


Who You Callin' Hyuuga - Arc 3 - Training and Konoha Infiltration

by Ikasury



Series: WYCH - Series [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Bakeneko, Beware the cute things, Bigger Badder More Badass, Cloud Village, Demons, Exposition, Eye Scream, For Want of a Nail, Gate Guards, Gen, Goddamn Cats!, Hinata Kidnapped by Kumo, Hinata is Yorihi, Infiltration Mission, Kiri Civil War, Kumogakure, Lots of OCs - Freeform, Old Blind Assassin, Orochimaru would look normal here..., R&D, Raikage is your Daddy, Raised by Assassins, Spy Game - Freeform, Training, Training from Hell, Uchiha Bastards, Uchiha Massacre, Village of Badass, Village of Ocs, world building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-09
Updated: 2016-02-09
Packaged: 2018-05-19 09:53:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 96,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5962993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ikasury/pseuds/Ikasury
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Nibi incident, Killer Bee and Yugito go off to train. There are major shifts in the political spectrum and something is working in the shadows. In order to gain more information, Kemui uses a mission from R&D to Infiltrate Konoha. Meanwhile, Yorihi is sent to train with an old blind assassin, both for her safety and so the Kumo-nin can stop being all fluffy and do what they do best!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cripple

**Author's Note:**

> CONTINUING!! my massive transfer of this crazy to here~
> 
> Arc 3 in full swing~
> 
> Dis: Kishimoto owns Naruto, i just play in his sandbox~
> 
> Enjoy!!

The clouds rolled darkly around the village named after them.

On one of the platforms near the edge of the village, joined to the Raikage’s tower by a series of bridges, a small group of ninja gathered to see two people off. The first was the large dark skinned blonde man, black shades glinting in the hidden sunlight and a wide grin on his face stretching the tattoo of bullhorns on his cheek. The second was a much shorter blonde young woman, her black iron eyes kind if somewhat stretched at the events as she looked upon those that were seeing them off.

There was a small gaggle of people, ANBU of course for protection and watching the skies, some other jounin she knew, namely her teammates from the elimination squad, some lingering comrades of Bee’s. Of course the only people that really mattered were the two standing right in front of Jinchuuriki, the Raikage and the little girl holding the giant oni’s hand that was his daughter.

Yorihi was the reason for Yugito’s tight smile. After what happened with the Nibi she felt entirely responsible for the anguish and whatever trauma the little girl would have. As usual the little ‘blind’ girl just grinned and seemed like nothing was wrong. It wasn’t until Yugito had gotten out of the hospital that she had confronted the girl’s mentor, the woman probably most affected from the events. The blonde’s intent had been to prostrate herself and beg forgiveness from the assassin along with whatever punishment the women deemed worthy. Kemui had simply said nothing, merely closed her eyes and shook her head before turning away, as if dismissing anything had happened between them. The Nibi container had been struck by this dismissal, almost afraid what she had feared had come to pass and the woman was nothing more than the ‘Assassin’ again. Instead she saw as the woman walked away, Yorihi come up and Kemui offered her hand to the smaller girl, which she gladly took with a large grin. Yugito felt… relieved, knowing the two were still connected, but her guilt over the events causing that scare had yet to recede.

Killer-Bee kept his word about taking her to the island, it took a few months to set up, but they were finally on their way. She knew she should feel elated, lifted, something at finally going to the place Bee learned to fully command the Hachibi, in hopes she too would gain such a rapport with her inner-demon and drive away her fears of harming those close to her again.

But she didn’t.

Something was missing, the blonde young woman felt like she was leaving something behind, left undone or unsaid. The memories the Nibi had given her came to mind, particularly the ones from when _she_ was too young to remember. The one of the white-haired child being swatted aside in the burning village stood out the most, and every time she thought she had the courage to ask the Assassin one look at her grey eyes and it slipped away. Frustrated with her lack of response from either the white-haired woman or her demon, she had found some solace in the advice given to her by the tower desk clerk.

_“It doesn’t matter,”_ Reki had said while flicking ash off her one of her cigarettes, a glance from those bored black eyes and somehow the older woman just _knew_ what was on the Nibi-container’s mind, “ _If it’s important, it’ll become known to you, if not, don’t worry about it until it does…_ ”

- _Wise words from someone that didn’t seem to do anything all day but wait for reports_ \- had been what she’d thought at the time, but another nudge from the Nibi’s memories, her _own_ memories of sorts had seen that woman glaring fiercely, pulling out a battle fan and facing an inhuman monster with an insane sort of smile. She had shivered at the thought; that something so well ‘ _hidden_ ’ could be underneath the perpetually bored desk clerk…

It had made her wonder what the Assassin hid, behind her cloudy eyes and non-verbal communications. What ‘Killer’-Bee hid behind his wide-fanged grins and terrible rhymes. The Raikage, behind his stern glares and muscles that ensured ‘might made right’ with him on top. Even Yorihi…

The blonde looked at the small girl, barely past the Raikage’s knee and having to hold her hand up to grab his, with her uncommonly soft features, midnight blue hair and the bandanna around her eyes. She’d seen the girl’s eyes before, having already known about them from what Batsuko had told her, and Kemui had seem extremely reluctant, almost hostile, when she was ‘shown’. The unsaid threat that if she spoke to anyone about the girl’s eyes said the Assassin would find her, her accomplices, and anyone else involved and end their lives in a quick, if brutal and painful, way. Yugito never asked, fearing for her life, but she was smart enough and having witnessed the incident with the Hyuuga suspected the girl’s ‘real’ identity.

Before she had been hesitant and cautious about this idea, about what this village was doing, knowing full-well she was ‘acquired’ for her demon and her power only. Was Yorihi just another ‘acquisition’? If so, why were they treated so differently from what she assumed other villages would do? She’d heard rumors about R&D but when she asked Bee he said its best she didn’t know. At the time it added to her stress, wondering what truths and lies were being thrown about for the sake of face for the village, how were they supposed to live if they were to be perpetual secrets brought out only for war?

Those thoughts completely disappeared the moment she saw the look on Kemui’s face when she tried to save the girl. The fierceness in the Raikage’s eyes when facing the Nibi for _his_ daughter. The chiding, threat, and worry she heard in Bee’s voice in the hospital room. These people’s primary goal may have been the ‘good of the village’ but they didn’t see them, their ‘acquisitions’ as simple tools towards that cause, they were people, comrades, loved ones, it didn’t matter where they came from just that they were on the same side now. That alone meant they were worth protecting, even from themselves.

And she’d never seen Yorihi happier than when she was around her ‘family’, biological or not. And Yugito had to admit, if only to herself, they had become her family too, people she cared about, people she didn’t want to hurt or see suffer, and while she didn’t quite remember her past she couldn’t say she felt happier wherever she was compared to here.

Without thinking her hand closest grabbed two of Bee’s fingers.

He had been laughing at something his brother said, the scowl on the Raikage’s face could melt metal, but the Hachibi Jinchuuriki brushed it off like everything else. He stopped when he felt Yugito’s small hand grab his closest, his other behind his head as if stretching. The dark skinned man looked down at her with a small pout, wondering if she was okay, she’d been quiet the whole time. One look was all he needed, before he turned back to his brother with a grin.

There were unshed tears in the young woman’s eyes, as she smiled honestly at those that were gathered to see them off. They were family, all of them, even the ones that weren’t there.

The Nibi-container watched as Yorihi’s little blue-black brows curled over her bandanna, and she shook her father’s hand, adorable childish pout on her lips. The Raikage merely gave a grunt, smirk picking at the edge of his lips before moving his hand out, as if directing her forward.

The little girl smiled widely, like her uncle and father, before turning in the direction her father directed her and let go of his hand, running towards Yugito.

Without a conscious thought, the young blonde woman crouched, arms wide and engulfing the child as she flung herself at her big sister. She hugged her, her young sister by bonds of fate and what she thought must have been absolute sarcasm from Kami. Yugito released her hold of Yorihi, holding her at arm’s length and smiled gently at the little girl, moving her rough bangs out of view of her forehead, even if they just fell back into place afterward, “You gonna be okay Yorihi-chan?”

“Mm,” the little girl gave a nod, holding her sister’s hand, shaking it as a pout grew on her childish face, “Ne, when’s Nee-chan and Oji-chan coming back?”

The Nibi-container continued to smile, though bemused as she glanced at her senior for his input. Bee conveniently took that moment to cough into his hand and look decidedly _away_. Black eyes narrowed slightly before turning back to the little girl, wondering if she caught the exchange, “Dunno,” her thumbs rubbed the back of the little girl’s hands, “Shouldn’t be too long, only long enough for…” blonde brows flattened, the solace of her actions and the events coming to her eyes, but mixed the with idea that this was to prevent that. Yugito shook her head, “I’ll come back a lot stronger,” she smiled rubbing the side of the little girl’s face and tugging at one of her small braids that framed her face, “that means you better get stronger too!!”

The little girl smiled wildly at that, “Kemui-sama will make sure of that!”

“Heh,” Bee finally decided to join the conversation, “Knowin’ Sista’ she’ll have you kickin’ yo dad’s ass soon’as we get back,” he leaned in conspiratorially with a wiggle of his eyebrow raised hand to hide his whispers from the crowd, namely his brother, “jus’ between us, save it ‘fore we return, I wanna see him get burned~”

“Slant,” Yugito said flatly with narrowed eyes at her sempai.

Bee gasped, standing straight and almost as if struck by a mortal blow, “Aw naw!! Not you too!!”

The young blonde woman stood with a mischievous Cheshire grin, making her look too much like a cat in that moment as she savored the stricken look of her comrade, “And what would _that_ be sempai?”

Yorihi just giggled at the two. She missed her Teacher, so watching her sister take up teasing her uncle like her was somewhat… refreshing.

“Soundin’ like Sista’!!” Bee pointed accusingly while the smaller Jinchuuriki just shrugged and held up her hands non-threatening, “I knew that cat did somethin’ to ya!!”

“Visual rhyme, Oji-chan!” what could she say; she was her Teacher’s student.

The large man’s accusing finger immediately went down to his niece, only she was grinning wider than him and his jaw was just left hanging open.

“Keheheh,” Yugito couldn’t help it, laughing like a cat now at the ridiculous look on the elder Jinchuuriki’s face. She felt it when his glare turned on her and her hands went up again dismissively defensive, “Don’t blame me, someone has to remind you with Kemui-san away on a mission…”

Blond brows over the man’s black shades lowered, showing he was glaring further at his smaller student-of-sorts, “Ya’ll suck!”

Both girls just laughed, or really one giggled and the other laughed like an old cat.

“Oi, Yorihi,” the Raikage’s voice broke through their revelry. The three turned to the imposing man, looking stern and imposing as stone like a Kage should, “Time for them to get moving.” Gouzin Jinrai crossed his arms, taking in the sight as the three nodded, hugging the little girl one last time before turning her in the direction of her father. As Yorihi approached the gargantuan of a man placed his hand on her head, guiding him back to his side, she quietly obeyed, taking hold of her father’s pants in absence of his hand.

Yugito and Killer-Bee smirked at those staying behind, tightened the travel cloaks around them and with a nod to their leader and his daughter, disappeared in an instant.

Quickly the party of ninja dispersed. The ANBU jumping off the spire to continue their duties in obscurity. The members of the elimination team, code-names Wann and Trii just smirked, surprised for getting the chance to see their teammate off but knowing their being there was only cursory; even so the large man grinned to his tattooed comrade, back to work for now. As went the rest, their presences no longer necessary or noticed.

All that remained was the Raikage and his daughter.

Yorihi looked down, clinching her father’s pants and trying not to let the sudden emptiness in her heart show too much. She sniffed, willing herself not to cry.

The Raikage mused her hair, garnering her attention, “Don’t worry, they’ll be back before you know it.”

An arm rubbed across her bandanna, her eyes itched, “Otou-sama, why did Nee-chan and Oji-chan have to leave?”

The fearsome man frowned slightly, “You remember what happened,” he felt her nod and give a slight affirmative sound, “Bee’s taking Yugito somewhere where she can train so that never happens again…”

“Why can’t they do it here?” the large man looked down at the girl and realized she was looking up at him, probably fiercely under her bandanna from the way her brows were furrowed.

He honestly didn’t know how to answer her. On the one hand he could just tell her the truth, on the other he could just not say anything or make up a lie. With a deep throaty sigh he rubbed the space between his eyes with his free hand, “Yugito and Bee are ‘special’, what they carry is dangerous and in order to protect the village they must train in a special place.”

“Is it because of the big-cat in Nee-chan’s head?”

This caused the Raikage to raise a small blonde brow, lowering his hand to stare at his adopted child with beady eyes. They never really talked about what happened to her, it was hard enough to understand let alone explain, and the doctors had cautioned that with her memory lapse it may be traumatic to even attempt. He frowned at his daughter; she looked fine, question still on her face as she shook his pants. He patted her head, “Yes,” he saw right next to the girl the bakeneko form out of nothing, its new larger form staring at the empty spot in front of them before turning its blue eyes on him. His frown spread, “Yes, it does…”

She nodded again, taking this as an answer, “I hope her and Nibi-sama can get along…”

Blonde brow rose higher, but one look at the blue-black cat and he felt he knew where she learned that little tidbit from, “So do I…”

“Ne,” she shook his pants again, while looking down, “Where’s Kemui-sama?” when she looked up at her father again her brows were knitted together in worry, “She got worried after…” he tiny fist clinched, “After that last one,” she saw her father’s beady eyes go wider and she swallowed harder, “I know she took him somewhere and I haven’t seen her since?”

The Raikage’s mouth became a thin line as he looked away from his daughter. She was barely six and already picking up on things no one her age should. With a deep sigh and a glance at the rolling clouds, “She’s out there making sure you’re safe…”

She lowered her head, seeming to understand.

The Raikage tried to not let it show on his face, the worry and concern he had for his daughter. Knowing he’d have to explain to her further about the Jinchuuriki and Bijuu and their purpose along with the assassination attempts on both her and him that she’d apparently witnessed, even if Kemui had kept them silent. He closed his eyes and shook his head, so much to explain to one so young, part of him wished he could have held these truths back from her, hope for a somewhat ‘normal’ childhood, as much as a ninja’s childhood could be called normal.

Three years ago he wouldn’t even have given a damn…

He lowered his hand from her head, taking her hand as it let go of his pants, “Let’s go inside,” quickly they turned from the oncoming storm towards the bridges, Bachiko a step behind his daughter.

\-----

In most villages ANBU was limited to being buried in the deepest darkest pit the village could dig out and shove unwanted undesirables into for the sake of their ‘innocent’ civilian populace. With the limitations on space and the fragility of blowing holes through rock face, Kumo’s ANBU T&I headquarters was something… _interesting_.

Reki stepped out into the wide open hanging bridge that exited the rocky outcropping of a specially sealed tunnel from the ‘basement’ of the Raikage’s tower. She looked up, several stories, at least a kilometer if not more and there was the base balcony of the tower. Off in the distance stood several other mountainous spires that supported the remainder of the village, similar outcroppings, bungalow style buildings build into and expanding out of the peaks of the ‘Oni’s Ridge’ mountains. It was a wide and magnanimous expanse and from this far down one was caught between the dark clouds above and the stream of lighter ones below hiding the mysterious basin the mountains spawned out of…

The desk clerk just shrugged, bored, she’d seen it all before one too many times.

Walking out on to the bridge it creaked and groaned with the ‘new’ weight, but she knew it was completely solid. It was really amazing what people could come up with when it came to seals, explosives, traps, etc. but one thing about Kumo’s T&I she’d always appreciated about it was its sheer simplicity. About halfway across the bridge she could make out the building from the swirling mists of the clouds. It was a simple looking round building, almost like a pot hanging out in the expanse, the only thing about it that was truly frightening was the fact that it was literally suspended over an abyss, the only things holding it out there was literally the bridges that connected to it and a single long wire that clung to the base of one of the fashioned terraces between buildings.

There was no greater threat in Kumo then simply falling to your death, so why not have the one place they sent ‘unwanted undesirables’ have that as an open threat to all that came there?

Thus the simplicity in its design and threat that made Reki smile, a part of her truly missed this place…

Stepping off the bridge and onto the walk she circled to what would be considered the ‘front’ of the building. Black eyes just stared at it, not bothering to knock or use some silly jutsu to ‘unlock’ it, anyone inside would already know she’s there simply from the shift in balance of the place. Her mouth twitched as a smirk made itself known around her cigarette…

**_ BANG!! _ **

The ‘front’ door slammed into the wall and no sooner had it bounced were there five masked ANBU standing around it, kunai out and seals prepared to attack whoever was brazen enough to kick in the door of Kumo’s Torture and Interrogation squad.

“Pfft,” Reki lowered her foot, taking her first step into this place in _years_. She all but sauntered in, hands tucked away in her old T &I captain’s jacket as she just looked around thoroughly unimpressed by the confused stances of the idiots they called ANBU nowadays, “The fuck’s wrong with you bitches!!” the stern black haired woman bowled up to the ANBU in the center, a guy bigger than her by quite a bit and just glared into his face with hard black eyes behind her glasses, “I could’ve wiped out the lot of ya without even fucking trying!” her black brows lowered, seemingly angry as she saw the man gulp, the others moving to circle her, “Tch,” well at least they were **_now_** trying…

“Reki?” a masked man’s head leaned out of an office and saw the former T&I captain surrounded by his ‘newer’ recruits. The guy had grey hair sticking out from the sides of his mask and as he walked out with a cane and slight limp it was obvious he was far older than the rest of them, “Is that really you?”

A grin spread across the woman’s face, “Yo, Bikko-jiji.”

“Keh,” the old man reached under his mask and took it off, showing the aged features of a brown eyed man with a short grey hair and small beard. His left eye sported rough, gash-like scaring that went around half of his head, but the eye itself was white and dead. Despite the scarring his other brown eye was gentle; almost grandfatherly as he looked upon the younger woman, “Thought I told you long time ago to stop callin’ me that?”

The old man limped down from his raised office and Reki met him halfway in a friendly hug, “Like I’d ever do that, jiji…”

The crippled man patted her once on the back before breaking the hug, giving her a good once over, “Can’t say time’s been good to ya,” he flicked the edges of her coat out of the way, ignoring personal space, “Look at that waist, my you’ve gotten fat…”

“Pfft, what happens when you have a few kids,” she flicked his short grey hair over his scar, “Besides, you got old,” a black brow cocked over her glasses as she gave the old man a disgruntled pout, “still ugly as ever though…”

“Ha!” the old man turned towards another door, limping as he edged towards it, already knowing what she was there for, “Should’a stuck around, could’a gotten used to it?”

“As if,” the former captain shook her head, following the man as both seemed to just ignore the remaining ANBU just staring in their general direction in utter disbelief.

“Is that…?”

“No way…”

“Can’t be?”

“Has to, the commander’s never that ‘nice’ to anyone…”

“But I thought she quit?”

“Oi, we can still hear you morons!” Reki glared at them all flatly, huddled in their little conversation corner. She openly frowned at them, “Really, got nothing better to do then talk about some old friends?” the grin around her cigarette became sadistic as a frightening glare reflected off her glasses, “I can think of a few ‘chores’ you brats can do…” cracking her knuckles just for emphasis.

Highly trained black-ops ninja went still at the sound, with perhaps one or two whimpers.

“Stop tormenting my men,” the old man finished working the lock on the door before opening it and nodding her to go in first. The woman just rolled her black eyes before giving a bored ‘tch’ and walking in. The tension in the room seemed to leave with her as the gathered ANBU seemed to sigh in relief. The commander was not impressed, turning on his men with his staff held imposing in front of him in both hands, “And what are you brats doin’ just standing around for?”

With a flurry the ‘junior’ T&I ANBU disappeared, presumably back to their desks and their work.

“Hmp,” the old man just grunted, turning to join his protégé on the other side of the door before sealing it.

“So which cell’s he in?” the black eyed woman looked at him seriously, all joking and pretense gone from her visage as they walked the corridors.

“Heh,” the scarred man shrugged, his uneven steps leading them past several rooms sealed tightly shut for ‘good reason’, “Which one?”

Reki’s eyes went to the back of her senior’s head, “How many?”

The old man rolled his shoulder, “Hard to say,” cracked his neck while they walked, “That white haired woman kept dropping them off and disappearing…”

Black eyes narrowed, “That’s bullshit, you’d keep a record of them…”

The old man shrugged, “You know how we work, no paper work, no evidence, no trace, never existed,” he glanced back at her with his sole working eye, “Though hafta say, some came in pretty mangled, immobilized with a few ‘pieces’ missing… thought for a second it was you doing the work,” the younger woman scoffed at that and he grinned facing forward, “Course you’re right, despite the damage it was far too ‘clean’ to be your handy work…” when he heard the footsteps behind him stop the old man halted, turning on the woman, “Reki?”

She was staring at a cell, light dark on the other side of the glass and dust gathered at the foot of the door. On the other side, the blood stains probably remained…

“Reki.”

The old man’s voice cut through her delusions, blank black eyes following the sound and finding his off-color eyes. It took a second but her feet started to move and her hands dug deeper into her pockets, “Take me to the latest one…”

The old man frowned as she caught up, “This way,” he turned and went towards the designated cell. He wouldn’t say a word about her pause; there were too many ghosts that liked to find people in their line of work.

The trip was silent.

The old ANBU commander stood in front of the door, glancing at it with his good eye, “been honestly getting them from all over, two from Kiri, one from Kusa, even Ame,” he nodded his head to a door not far down, “Got Jimei working on one from Iwa as we speak,” the old man turned back to the still woman and seemed to just sigh, “though have to say this one from Konoha, never seen one so tough before, even I couldn’t crack him…”

Reki stared at the door. – _One more time…_ \- the line kept going round and round in her head as if she needed to justify why she was here, or promise herself this was the last. She knew that wasn’t true.

“I’ll crack him,” the woman said darkly, opening the door, stepping inside and closing it behind her.

“I hope you do,” the limp man said quietly. It had been years since he’d asked Reki to participate in this work again, and honestly he wouldn’t have called her in if the bastard would just talk. Plus when he mentioned to her what the man had tried to do the woman almost jumped down his throat in rage, it was a fire he hadn’t seen before. He held his cane in his hands and stared at the ceiling, sighing to himself.

Last time she was here he’d had to drag her out of that room covered in blood, T&I wasn’t a glamorous job, in fact he’d have to say it was the worst field any ninja had to be fated to work in. By some twisted act of Kami some people were actually ‘good’ at it, and those were the people that never left it. By an even worse fate there were those that were ‘too’ good at it, often going too far and tipping that moral balance too much until they completely lost all humanity. **_That_** had been one of those instances, Reki definitely fell into the second category, but the moment she went too far was also the moment she walked away, he’d only seen a handful of people manage that.

“Hmp,” the old man snorted, “Now I’m in need of that monster this work brings out in you…”

Inside the room Reki stared at the ‘man’ strapped to the chair facing away from the door. Standard procedure restraints, chakra blockers, possible drugs, all the ‘usual’ stuff. Her bored black eyes took in his features as she slowly walked around him, matted blonde hair, probably orange really with the bad lighting and dried blood it in. Crisp clean gashes on his upper arms, not deep but certainly stung, probably salt or some citric acid thrown in. His hand, right, missing middle digit removed at the base of the second phalange. Thumb sliced open. First phalanges appeared broken in multiple places.

The woman rolled her eyes; this was such child’s play.

She moved to stand right in front of the prisoner, not bothering to get technical about his bloody face or broken shins. She asked in a moderately bored tone, “Hey, you still alive?”

Of course, like all ‘resilient’ prisoners he had to spit blood in her face and try to look intimidating through a cut open black eye.

“Really?” she took out a handkerchief and wiped off her face and glasses.

The guy continued to glare.

She kicked him in the broken, bloody shins. He clinched his jaw but as she replaced her glasses she could see the pain in the farthest glimmer of his eyes. She stared at him, eyes flat, “You sure you want to play mister tough guy with me?”

His bloody brows furrowed and he challenged her with his eyes…

In a blur she was in his face, tilting the chair back precariously while holding his jaw open by dislodging it and pulling down painfully, revealing the silencing seal on the back of his tongue. A grin spread across her face, something wicked and showing teeth, “Okay,” her eyes flashed red and she enjoyed the enhanced sight of his pupils going smaller and eyes wider as her Sharingan spun into a different design, “Let’s have some fun…”

\-----

Yagura, the Yondaime Mizukage, sighed while looking over the paperwork on his desk. This all seemed completely pointless; couldn’t the village survive on its own without his input on every small little thing? The pink eyed Jinchuuriki just shook his head, signing another sheet and tossing it in the ‘done’ pile before grabbing another report. He glanced over it, a summary of an infiltration mission into Kumo gone wrong, two members caught, interrogated and probably killed. He sighed closing the report, putting it in the ‘failed’ box.

“Mizukage-sama?” there was a knock at his door.

The young looking leader glanced from the next report to the door, nodding at it as if the person on the other side could see him before looking back at his paperwork and saying quietly, “enter.”

The door opened with a loud thud against the wall as a tall red-haired woman walked in with a huff. Terumi Mei, a jounin, and one of the more skilled members of the village walked up to his desk with a hand on her hip and threw down a report, “What the hell is this?”

Without answering the Mizukage took the report and started reading over it, not even glancing at the other ninja that walked in.

Slamming the door shut, Kiyoraka Seisui, another high ranking jounin and formidable man brushed up next to Mei. The man had a perpetual scowl on his face, not to mention the vertical scar on the right side that made him look _slightly_ like a stitched together monster. The man growled when the red-haired woman glared at him with her one visible green eye, his purple ones narrowing as he rested his hands in the wrap over his waist.

Yagura ignored the tension between two of his top jounin and shut the report Mei had thrown at him, “I see no issue.”

The woman’s red brow furrowed as her eyes snapped to her superior, “Don’t see an issue?” she pointed angrily at the closed folder, “They slaughtered an entire clan!”

“They were attacking us,” Seisui shrugged his shoulders, unfettered as the woman turned on him again.

Mei resisted the urge to strangle the racist bastard, “We could have knocked them out, negotiated or _something_!” she slammed her fist on the closed folder, causing Yagura to pique a grey brow, “Not slaughter them all together and wipe out a valuable bloodline for our village!”

“Pfft,” the larger man shrugged, taking one hand out of his wrap and knocking his shoulder like it was sore, “Good riddens I say, kekkei genkai users don’t fucking deserve the pity,” his purple eyes narrowed on the woman fiercely as his scowl grew, “Better slaughter the whole bunch that way we know that insanity would never spread…”

Mei bared her teeth at the man, he was infuriating with his backwards views, “Kekkei genkai are just another tool,” her hand clinched on the folder, her lone green eye blazing at the man, “very useful tools that could save your life!”

“Pfft,” his scowl continued as he looked away from the woman, “I’d rather die…”

The woman’s fist clinched around his collar drawing his attention, “That can be easily arranged…”

“Terumi, Kiyoraka,” the Mizukage voice was firm calling attention of the two jounin. When purple and green eyes were on him the young-looking man opened his mouth to address them further…

… Only for his eyes to still and a red line to form around his neck…

Mei and Seisui looked at their leader, their minds slowly, very slowly picking up what was happening in front of them as blood started to trickle down the grey-haired man’s throat.

… and his head fell clean off his shoulders.

Green and purple eyes widened as mouths opened in disbelief as aortal blood spewed up in a fountain.

But that wasn’t what they were _really_ afraid of…

\-----

Down below the Mizukage tower in an alleyway a chuunin happened to be walking past when he heard a rustling. Cautiously the man drew a hooked kunai and approached the sound; turning a dark back alley he caught sight of someone.

Standing there with one hand firmly on the side wall, breathing hard and spitting on the ground was a woman wearing an evening kimono and casual sandals. The most defining feature of the woman he could make out from his distance was her white hair, done up in some elaborate braids tied in various knots to keep them out of the way.

Realizing the woman appeared to be sick the chuunin approached, no one could say he wasn’t a gentleman. With a gloved hand the man gently put it on the woman’s shoulder, causing her to start and turn wide grey eyes on him. He gave his most charming smile, trying not to frighten the woman, she was probably a civilian after all, “Sorry to scare you miss,” he chuckled lightly hoping to defuse the tension from the woman’s gaze, “I heard a sound and, well, saw you back… here…”

The woman’s grey eyes lowered and she looked vulnerable, pulling her kimono tighter as a shade of pink dusted her cheeks.

The chuunin blinked, then blushed himself, “S-sorry ma’am,” he waved his hands non-threateningly and slightly embarrassed, “I-I’m not here to-to, ugh, an-anything,” he scratched the back of his head when she just gave him a slightly scared look, “A-are you alright, miss?”

She gave this cute smile that made him blush all sorts of new colors.

“Heh heh…” he scratched his cheek looking away, “S-sorry to em-embarrass you, if a… if a…” his eyes trailed to the other side, too embarrassed to look her in the eye again, “Ya know… need someone to walk… you… home?”

He was about to look at the woman when suddenly spotlights and alarms started going off all over the village.

Suddenly on alert, the chuunin turned from the woman, “That alarm? N-no way?!” he clinched his fists. Everyone in Kirigakure knew what that alarm was, it meant a Jinchuuriki had died or their Bijuu was on the loose, and currently there were only two, and one of them was-

The top of the Mizukage tower suddenly exploded as a frightening roar ripped through the air. Shattered glass and concrete flying off like shrapnel as the Sanbi reached out to the moon, roaring its newfound freedom.

The chuunin just stared at the monster for a moment, spotting two smaller shadows leave the tower, “S-shit!!” the man gulped turning back to the woman, “W-we gotta-”

Only to find the mysterious white haired woman was gone, not a trace of her ever being there, since as the glass rained down from above and one of the Sanbi’s tails flattened the area the tell-tale smoke of a certain assassin’s technique disappeared unnoticed into the night.

\-----

Miles away a puff of smoke appeared.

A pale hand tried clinging desperately to the side of a tree. Its owner stumbled forward, hand sliding down the bark while the other pushed white locked away as she heaved.

- _Too close…_ -

Kemui’s throat burned raw as nothing but stomach acid and blood came up. She spit out the rest.

Her hand trembled along the tree and eventually gave up its pitiful hold to try supporting her hunched body. It wracked with pain, chills, and her lungs choked on air trying desperately to take the vital substance in.

Her eyes closed as she tried to will her body to stop, to still and stop refusing its natural functions.

Prolonged use of her clan’s technique was dangerous; she was intimately familiar with the side-effects by now. That didn’t mean she wanted to put up with them. Overuse resulted in the body to start ‘rejecting’ itself, thus the retching, chills, blood in her mouth and lungs.

Perhaps this was her clan’s final farewell to her, her ‘cheap’ version of the clan technique reaching its limit so much faster, limiting her use or just plainly trying to kill her.

Against her bodies protests she laughed at the idea.

Of course the pain spread, and she doubled over again trying to heave nothing. Ideally Kiri would be too occupied with its own ‘problems’ now to bother with some poor sick ‘civilian’ out in the woods dying…

“Heh,” despite herself she smiled, pushing herself up on shaky arms and legs, having to balance herself by leaning on the tree for a moment. Her breathing slowed, the chills lowered to a small tremor.

She could still taste blood.

“Have to do,” she pushed off the tree, standing on her own, wobbling a second before finding her balance. Grey eyes spared one look back at the village hidden in the mist, the giant turtle making its way to the water’s edge, flames and chaos in its wake.

She didn’t care about the collateral damage; this mission was done, “On to the next…”

She was an Assassin, as far as she cared the last of her stupid clan, and anyone that dares to point a blade at her Lord or her student would learn damn well why that was the biggest and _last_ mistake they’ll ever make.

… Though, inadvertently releasing a Bijuu to trample through an enemy village and probably sparking a civil war was definitely ‘new’ on her list of accomplishments.

It must have been the fatigue, physical strain, and coughing up blood, because she suddenly felt like laughing.

\------

Kiyoraka – Pure, Seisui – Clear water

Bikko – cripple


	2. Honest Johnny-O

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The subtitle is 'Exposition'...

It was raining again.

Yorihi looked outside and watched as the droplets pelted and streaked down the thick floor to ceiling glass. How long had she been here? Time seemed to just flit away at its own pace, and she never really paid it much attention before. After the incident with the Yugito and Nibi, and her memory being all messed up she noticed the amount of ‘pockets’ in her memory. Her body remembered the training she’d already received from Kemui, knowing its physical limits from her times playing Tag with her father and general workouts and chakra exercises, and she could still remember most of the ‘facts’ her Teacher had spent however long she’d been here teaching her…

The little girl sighed as she ran a hand through the wispy fur of the Bakeneko halfway leaning in her lap…

Those were… ‘basic’ things, general knowledge and physical skill, things that once ‘known’ weren’t hard to forget.

The lightning flashed outside between the dark clouds and her white eyes blinked and tried to catch it before it was gone.

It was the ‘important’ memories, the ones that made up who _she_ was that mattered and it was the pockets in _those_ memories that had her worried. Perhaps her greatest ‘fear’ at the moment was that she didn’t quite know _what_ she had forgotten, or if she had forgotten anything at all? Without Kemui in her memories it had felt like there was a hole, not only in her head, but in her heart, like a lingering pain that couldn’t be erased and it prodded her to figure out what was missing to make it go away. Bachiko had poked and prodded and tried to unlock what the Nibi had sealed away but all he could do was ‘loosen’ it, and it required seeing her Teacher again to get even just as little as recognizing her again back. And now, sitting here on her bed and watching the rain she wondered if there was anything else?

The rumble was very light, faint in its subtle sound making one of Bachiko’s long ears flick, showing the storm was still further away… even if the rain was already here.

It sparked a memory for her, of what felt like _long_ ago, the first storm she’d witnessed, being so frightened of the loud noise and violent winds… only for her Teacher to show up and approach. Her hand that was absentmindedly stroking the ghost cat’s blue-black fur went to the wrist of her other arm. She didn’t quite remember the details but she remembered that Kemui had grabbed her arm, something far-off and cold in her eyes… which only a moment later seemed to disappear and replaced with an oddly open concern. When she was ‘younger’ she had only paid attention to the sad look afterwards and wanted to make her Teacher feel better, now she wondered if her Teacher was hiding her own pain or doubts.

Her finger trailed along where she remembered the woman’s hand had been, in her mind _feel_ the sensation of that steel like grip twisting her arm…

- _Kemui-sama is far stronger than she looks…_ \- It had always been a curiosity of hers, just how strong her Teacher was. The white haired woman was always so much smaller physically then her father and uncle, yet the way she carried herself made her seem like she was eye to eye with them all the time. She never batted an eye at their shows of strength and even seemed bored or uninterested when her father was working out with those really, Really, _REALLY_ big weights. Yorihi had tried to move one once and felt like she’d ripped all the muscles in her arms doing it.

Now, though, she wondered if ‘physical’ strength was the kind of strength she was thinking about when she said her Teacher was strong.

The little girl’s hand left her arm and went back to the Bakeneko, instantly Bachiko’s ear twitched and she could feel him start purring and ‘ _felt_ ’ his overall contentment with the return of the hand.

Feeling the ghost cat being happy brought a small smile to her face. She liked it when people smiled or simply felt happy and showed it. It was such a rare thing with the people around her to show honest open smiles, sure her Uncle _ALWAYS_ had a grin on his face, and Kemui-sama always had this tiny, miniscule, petite, faint smile showing she was content, and her Father liked to grumble with an occasional smirk, mostly for her, but real, honest smiles? Not often. Even Yugito-nee-san, who grinned as much as Bee but either playful or reserved, barely gave a truly happy smile.

“But…” the little girl started in a soft voice, causing the blue-black tabby to peak open an eye at her, “that… that’s what makes them so precious,” a light grin spread on the young girl’s face. She liked seeing her family happy; she liked seeing them when they _truly_ smiled, but forcing, or changing it, or doing anything to ‘ _make_ ’ them do so just seemed to cheapen the deal, ruining the overall meaning of the gesture. It’s probably why she cherished them, those rare real smiles.

It’s how she knew the people around her truly cared for her, because when she woke up, the first time she’d seen all of them she’d caught that small fragile **_real_** smile.

There was a jiggle at the door behind her.

Instantly Yorihi’s hand went to the fabric around her neck, grabbing it and raising it above her ears and tightening it to cover her eyes. It was something her Father had told her a long time ago, to always keep the bandana on and cover her eyes when anyone else was around. When she was younger she had just thought it was a game, and her admiration of the ‘cool’ Raikage, with his loud voice and boisterous laughing, caused her to believe him. Now though, she was starting to suspect it was to hide her eyes since they were ‘special’, both Kemui and her father had expressed a desire she learn to control them and figure out how to use her enhanced vision, it’s just that before she’d never given much thought as to ‘why’ they would want her to do that.

With the bandana in place she pushed chakra to her eyes enough to activate them, a second and that _fuzz_ she had become familiar with their activation kicked in and the circular view of the entire world came out of the darkness. Bachiko was already sitting up, alert with his bright blue eyes iridescent in the dark room, thrown off every so often when lighting decided to strike. Yorihi looked at the bakeneko despite the bandana; he looked back and seemed to give a nod.

In the silence of the room she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end while there was a tremble in her shoulders just underneath her skin. For a moment, she thought of her Teacher and wondered if this is how she felt just before she struck. In the time between the Nibi incident and now Yorihi had become far more… _‘aware’_ of her surroundings, flipping her eyes on and off to not only test them and get used to their ‘on/off’ switch, but to also assure herself there was no one hiding in some black crevice about to ‘get’ her. Three times while doing this she had caught Kemui… ‘ _detaining_ ’ a foreign ninja, at least she assumed so since their Hitae-ate didn’t have Kumo’s cloud design. The first time she had been so shocked she immediately turned ‘off’ her eyes, the second time she blinked, just to make sure it was real. The third time…

She watched.

She didn’t know why she had kept her eyes ‘on’ as long as she could and watched her Teacher… Yorihi didn’t know what the word was for what her Teacher did to the man but it was brutal, painful, and she had to keep her hands over her mouth so as not to scream. The worst part had been the placid look in her Teacher’s grey eyes, they weren’t cloudy and kind, they were steel… and had scared her. By the time Kemui was done doing… whatever to the foreigner, and dragged his body out of Yorihi’s sight, the little girl had been so scared her mind was completely blank. She stayed up all night not sure what to do when she saw her Teacher again, what to say, if she _should_ say anything… Bachiko had merely stayed at her side, watching her and comforting her with his presence, quiet and letting her sift through her own emotions.

That had been a month ago, and her Teacher had been gone ever since…

For a whole month she had tried to think about it, what she’d seen, consider what to do the next time she saw Kemui. She still didn’t know. Yorihi had never seen that look in Kemui’s eyes before, it was far different from the ‘ _look_ ’ she’d given her former Uncle when she cut his eyes, and it wasn’t the same as that blank look from long ago when she’d grabbed her arm. It scared her; to think her Teacher could be such a person… but she knew, _knew_ what she’d done wasn’t ‘wrong’.

Asking her father two weeks ago had been the first time she’d openly admitted to _knowing_ what had happened, though she didn’t think the Raikage knew she’d actually _seen_ it.

And here she was, by herself in her room with Bachiko, and through her enhanced vision she could see a shadowed figure move towards her silently from behind.

What would Kemui-sama do in this situation?

… A flash of light glinted off the drawn kunai in the perpetrator’s hand…

Bachiko narrowed his eyes, wispy blue-black fur standing on end…

She could _feel_ the intruder less than a foot from her, his hand reaching out, and she caught the glint off his forehead protector…

For a moment, just a moment, she felt completely calm.

The man’s gloved hand brushed across her kimono sleeve and in an instant Yorihi turned around and yelled with all the fury a 6yr old could muster as she thrust her palm out into the man’s midsection…

“What th-” the intruder’s words were cut short as a violent convulsion rocked through his body, causing him to drop his kunai and fall to his knees as blood came violently up his throat…

Behind her bandana, the little girl’s white eyes widened as her mouth dropped open in silent shock and her hand stung. All the man could see were the small dark haired girl’s eyebrows rising high above the strip of blue fabric that covered her precious eyes.

He made to reach out and grab her, his brow furrowing as it was obvious he was fighting back the convulsions as blood dribbled down his chin…

Then the lighting flashed again, quickly followed by a loud roar as a blue-black streak leapt from the bed and dealt with the intruder.

Once the light died and Yorihi’s eyes readjusted to the darkness all she saw on her floor was a man and a pool of blood…

She finally decided to scream.

\-----

All ninja villages had a gate, like any town, city, or other such village, there has to be a basic entrance to encourage commerce, trade, and ‘normal’ people to come and buy, sell, trade or even come to live and work in these primarily military run villages. This means there is an obvious, open hole in security, any veteran worth their salt knew these points in every major village, since it was the ‘easiest’ point of entry, not that many of them took it if they meant to enter an enemy village in a covert manner. This didn’t mean they weren’t used for such means or that they were always so ‘easy’ to come through. Many of the villages, being on level ground and surrounded by natural protective landmarks placed the public entrance to the village at the weakest point, both to state the inhabitants knew exactly where the weakest point in the wall was, and also to make the psychological claim that everywhere else was perfectly secure.

Kiri’s was through a marsh path thick in mist with large lakes that overflowed during most of the day. Suna’s was through an opening in large sand-dunes that required twenty shinobi or someone with sand manipulation to open. Iwa’s was a giant boulder at the entrance to their village’s cave system that was rolled out of the way. Even the smaller villages had interesting ‘gates’, behind waterfalls, underground entrances, on the other side of whirlpools. Konoha’s gate was perhaps the most obvious, since their main defense was an absurdly high build wall, they had an equally absurdly high build gate that could only be opened with a series of levers, pulleys, and other mechanical devices.

Kumo’s started with a relatively easy to miss door to a cave entrance at the base of one of the mountains. Not only did one have to know how to traverse the dangerous area and know what a mountain path even looked like or how to traverse it through the thick fog of the passing clouds, but also had to find the solitary door with a small guard post outside. Throughout the demon’s ridge mountains there were several of these posts, denoting the possibility of multiple entrances, the truth was that all entrances lead to the same internal caves that were long enough with curves and corners that had the traveler turned around several times making the actual location of the village hard to pinpoint once outside, hundreds of feet into the air on shaky old rope bridges that lead ‘closer’ to the village. Several cave systems, bridges, twists and turns later and one would finally catch a glimpse of the mysterious village hidden in the clouds. By this point only people who had actual business within the village would bother traveling further, namely traders, employers, or various officials with ‘requests’, not to mention the ninja returning from missions.

The final hurdle in the hours-long trek was a suspended gate with a final checkpoint and grand door really only meant for intimidation and show. The sheer sight of something held up so precariously high, the ground being so far below several cloud streams passed between it and the base that held up the ‘door’, was so daunting and awe-inspiring, it struck fear and perplexing curiosity for its grandiose and overall useless function, since it was ‘obvious’ one could either travel over or under the door, to foreigners, while to Kumo-nin it was a miraculous sight meaning they were home. The carving of a large thunder wielding Oni, fierce and cruel looking in the face, as it road on a cloud seemingly descending to wreak chaos on the lands below on the door was even more of a sight. Though perhaps the most ‘frightening’ and intimidating thing about the door was the fact it was a solid piece that was ‘lifted’ up from the bridge to let passers in and out, as if giving the impression that if it was cut loose the massive, obviously heavy structure, would come crashing down and destroy the bridge, cutting off any invaders from the village hidden in the clouds.

Taro and Naota were currently on watch of the ‘main’ gate, the clouds rolling in thick in the morning as it took some time for the sun to finally make its way over the mountains and cast light in the area. For now it was foggy but not so bad as to hinder visibility and Taro could feel the deep moisture of the clouds in the air. The chuunin gave a deep breath, he enjoyed the morning watch, it was calm and peaceful, and anyone coming into the village didn’t usually show up till lunch thanks to the path, so for now there wasn’t much to wait for unless it was returning ninja.

Naota pushed up the thin glasses up the bridge of their nose, reading over the current logs in the guard house, occasionally taking glances at the mist covered bridge leading to their position. Naota had always been a cautious person, not overly so but enough to never be caught off guard, but at the same time could always enjoy the occasional surprise despite their unflappable personality. The bespeckled chuunin glanced to the side, seeing Taro with his short spiky brown haired head laid on his crossed arms as he just soaked in the morning atmosphere. A slight smirk picked at the side of their mouth as the dark haired chuunin done in a short low pony-tail with bangs cut in an irregular bob went back to looking at the logs, they still had about twenty minutes until their next check-in.

The creek of ropes and strain on the old wood was the first thing they heard, and immediately dark blue almost black eyes behind glasses and brown ones turned from gazing at the rising sun towards the cloud covered end of the bridge. Naota closed the log book, while Taro stood up, letting his partner exit first as both tensed just enough to appear threatening but not hostile as they stood before the gate watching the clouded end.

The light consistent motion of the swaying of the bridge suggested a single person, not very big, and well trained enough to not make much sound or toss their weight around carelessly, it was obviously someone from their village from that alone, not to mention the fact the ‘guest’ wasn’t bothering to hide their presence. Slowly the clipping of wooden shoes hitting the large wooden panels of the bridge came to them, and as the sun finally made it past one of the peaks and lit the path cutting through the cloud cover the two guards caught sight of the returning assassin.

The first thing they saw was the woman’s white hair, elaborate braids brought up in appealing yet conservative way to keep the long braids out of the way and the ones that normally framed her face pulled back to make them less recognizable, with both bangs brought forward to pull off a surprisingly ‘different’ look. She kept her hands folded into the sleeves of her modest and easily forgettable dusky pink kimono, as she shuffled with ease and unmentionable grace on wooden sandals towards them, slowly raising her head and opening grey eyes as they all adjusted to the light of the sun.

Taro swallowed deeply as he felt a blush run across his cheeks at the sight of the demure woman coming towards them. Whatever his thoughts were, were sadly disrupted as his shorter partner Naota elbowed him in the stomach, forcing him to double over as the glasses wearing chuunin bowed politely at their returning guest, “Kemui-san, it is a pleasure to see your safe return…”

Kemui stopped a few feet from the two chuunin and bowed low and politely, before rising and eyeing the two again with cloudy grey eyes, “It is my pleasure to return,” the Assassin looked over the two a moment, taking note of the taller man holding his stomach and looking putout, while the smaller chuunin seemed to share her tell-nothing stare, “I take it there has been no trouble while I was away?”

Taro, the more emotional of the two finally stopped holding his stomach while his shoulder’s flinched and a frown came over his tanned face. Naota’s face did not move as the dark haired chuunin shook their head, “Nothing overt that affects the rest of the village, however…” the smaller chuunin’s dark blue almost black eyes turned to the side before looking back into Kemui’s cloudy grey ones, “The Raikage has had a standing order to inform you to report immediately to him upon your return…”

A white brow rose ever so slightly, “I had no intention otherwise,” again Kemui bowed her head in gratitude, “Thank you for informing me, I intend to make my way to see him immediately…”

Naota nodded curtly, before raising one hand to their mouth and turning towards the gate, releasing a whistle. Immediately the large gate gave a groan and chinking metal could be heard as it was raised by hardy chains that disappeared into the cloud covered mountains. Naota and Taro stepped to the side, allowing the calm Assassin to briskly walk passed them and through the gate just as it rose above her level without stopping. The moment the white woman was passed the chains slacked and the gate closed impossibly roughly, shaking the entire bridge station.

Taro involuntarily shivered, “I hate it when that happens,” the larger man rubbed his bare upper-arms while staring at the closed gate, “Always makes me think the thing is going to collapse…”

Naota stared at him flatly over thin glasses, “Don’t jinx us…”

**_ Bing!! _ **

Both chuunin turned to the sound of a string cord being struck, on the other side of the guard shack a man in green vagabond wear seemed to stretch, cracking his fingers and playing a few notes on the Biwa in his lap.

“Biwa-san!!” Taro called out, stalking to the beggar, “you stayed out here all night?”

The Biwa player seemed to smirk under his straw hat, “I’ve slept in worse places,” he chuckled, “At least it’s safe up here…”

Naota frowned, moving towards the two, “You know you can’t get in just by sitting out here Biwa-san,” the glasses-wearing chuunin crossed their arms, staring at the rugged man, “And its impolite to listen in on others…”

The man’s obvious smile lit up under the straw hat and between an unkempt mustache and small chin beard, “just ignore my presence,” he waved his hand nonchalantly, “everyone else does, chuunin-san, besides…” the beggar lowered his hand and plucked a few cords on his instrument, “It’s nice to come up to these mountains every once in a while,” he sat up straight, taking in a long exaggerated breath causing him to lean his head back to reveal the scars on both sides of his closed eyes, “just for the fresh air.”

Naota continued to frown at the man, but said nothing further, while Taro fretted over the old-looking man, worried about the semi-stranger’s health. The bespeckled chuunin turned back to the gate, it would have been impossible for someone of Kemui’s level to not have noticed the beggar, and if she made no mention of the man and let him live, then that meant he couldn’t possibly be a danger, right?

\-----

“You’re late,” was the immediate response as the door to the Raikage’s ‘office’ opened.

Kemui piqued a white brow ever so slightly, quietly sliding behind the marginally open door and closing it just as silently. The moment the lock clicked she raised her head and turned to her lord, “I came immediately from the gate,” she looked down with what would probably be considered a pout as she held out her arms with her hands holding the ends of her long kimono sleeves, “Haven’t even had the chance to change into something appropriate…”

The large oni of a man turned halfway to face her, a small blonde brow rising just as his beady black eyes grasped the ‘change’ in the Assassin’s usual attire. He had to blink, it surely wasn’t every day Kemui looked like a ‘normal’ woman as she appeared to be examining the outfit herself and ignoring his gaze. The large dark skinned man coughed into his hand as he turned to her fully, garnering her attention, “That wasn’t what I meant,” grey eyes immediately left her perusing to look the man in the face, catching his bored looking pout, “I gave you two months, you’re late…”

Again, imperceptible white brow rose as the Assassin returned to her ‘normal’ crisp attitude, “I was unaware I had a timetable to uphold…”

The Raikage frowned, crossing his arms, “that’s what I told those guys in the logs department, also ANBU wanted to know what to do with all those ‘bodies’ you dumped on them, not to mention the information they managed to get out of them…” the large man gave an annoyed growl, throwing down a hefty folder on his desk before closing his eyes with a deep frown, “And R&D has been riding my ass for your whereabouts for the last week, said they have some ‘operation’ they need you specifically for…”

White brow stayed raised as Kemui folded her arms into her sleeves, “That is quite a list,” she looked to the side in thought a moment, grey eyes skimming the desk and the precarious folder before looking away again and considering which of her three choices was the _least_ valuable to cover first, “I suppose admin has me set as MIA?”

The Raikage’s flat glare and frown answered her, “not the point,” he growled, making it obvious there was another reason he was angry at her for taking a few days over her ‘time limit’ to get done with her ‘mission’. There were very few things that actually bothered her lord when it came to being ‘on time’ for missions, and usually very rarely mattered once the person involved in the mission turned out to be alive. That could only mean something happened while she was gone that obviously ‘upset’ him, and that only meant one thing…

Immediately grey eyes became hard as the Assassin let her hands drop, “What happened to Yorihi?”

The frown on the Raikage’s face became a flat line but the eyes became sharper on the Assassin, “Sit down…”

Cold grey eyes didn’t even glance at the chair in front of her, nor the larger one behind him, her eyes simply stayed on his as he continued to glare at her as his tiny blonde brows twitched. The muscles in her face _tried_ , very hard, to remain as passive as possible, the most obvious show of her ‘displeasure’ was that her hands released from their fold in her sleeves and went to her sides as the edge increased in her eyes, “Lord Raikage…”

“Sit,” with a jerk the large man pulled out his own chair and roughly dropped his several hundred pounds of tightly wound muscle into the hard leather. Had the situation been quite a bit less tense, Kemui probably would have praised whoever made that chair… and the desk, seeing as they’d both survived what must have obviously been a strenuous time.

Instead the woman seemed to quietly refuse, her hands forming light fists as her eyes just trailed his decline into the furniture.

The large dark skinned man stared at her defiant eyes, trying to remember the last time he’d seen them and been surprised, before tenting his hands in front of him and releasing a deep sigh, closing his eyes and looking away from the woman for a short moment, “I said sit…”

“Jin…” the voice was light, barely a whisper, and not for the tense atmosphere between the two raising their sense to high alert, neither would have even noticed the white haired woman said it.

Beady black eyes opened narrowly, he could see it in her eyes, just behind the ferocity that had become common since the Nibi incident, the blatant concern and ‘old habits’ that he had thought died long ago. Something was coming back to life in the void that was normally Kemui’s eyes, and it always centered around his daughter. With another sigh, he realized that his eyes were probably the same as well, “… sit.”

In a moment the plainly clad woman deftly stepped around the chair and sat demurely as any lady should, feet together and her hands folded neatly in her lap and eyes cast down hidden by the off cut bangs of her ‘common’ hairstyle.

The Raikage’s mouth flattened into a tight frown behind his tented hands, “A month ago an intruder broke in without alerting any of the staff, seals, or any of the normal precautions,” that got her attention, he watched carefully as those sharp grey eyes rose, already he could see the wheels turning behind them as scenarios started playing out in how that was even possible, “this man made his way to somewhere very specific, unmarked on any maps and never mentioned beyond those closest to us, two of which are at the island as we speak,” he noticed the slight rise in one white brow, an obvious question at his statement that would be asked later, but the added information was already adding to the thoughts in the woman’s head, “he specifically went straight for Yorihi’s room with an unclear intent-”

“‘Unclear’?” both white brows furrowed, it was obvious what the ‘intent’ had been, there were only two options: kidnapping or assassination.

The large oni of a man raised his hand to stop further inquiry, “It is ‘unclear’ since the only witness to the event is Yorihi herself and the man she killed…” he openly paused to let that line sink in.

Kemui blinked, it was the only outward sign that such a revelation meant anything to her.

Beady black eyes stared flatly, “You don’t seem surprised…”

The white woman gave the barest of shrugs, “before I left she came to me asking what she should do if someone were to try to take her again,” Kemui gave the barest sigh, eyes trailing the floor, “I told her ‘strike before they have the chance’ as well as pumping as much chakra as she could into it…”

Small blonde brow rose, “You told her to use Jyuuken should someone try to take her?”

Grey eyes shifted to the large man, if he didn’t know any better he’d say she was mildly insulted, “No, I just told her to pump chakra into a strike,” again she folded her hands into her sleeves, just staring flatly at the large man in the larger chair behind his desk, “unfettered chakra on its own is dangerous, deadly even, what Jyuuken does is merely refine this art, it’s still a basic concept of simply pumping chakra out of a strike into an individual for _extra_ damage…”

“Heh,” the Raikage gave a slight sneer, “Tell that to the guy that tried to do whatever to Yorihi,” the large man shuffled through the papers on his desk, pulling out one then another until he found the specific one he was looking for and tossed it at the assassin, “untrained, _unrefined_ , that’s the sort of damage she can do…”

Kemui quickly glanced over the autopsy report, finding it easy to read past all the medical jargon and grasping the real point the large tan man was trying to make. While the cause of death was ruled ‘bleeding out from jugular evisceration’, there was a large **red** note pointing to the abdominal area and quite eloquently stating ‘mush’. Grey eyes stared flatly at the unprofessional note but got the point, “she completely destroyed the intestines?”

Again a snort from the oni, “More than that, the ‘shockwave’ the coroner claimed of chakra being released not only vaporized the intestines but bit into the surrounding organs and there was nothing left of the chakra network in the area…”

White brow rose over the sheet of paper.

“The downside is her hand suffered severe chakra burns and she was incapacitated for about a week suffering chakra depletion,” one hand moved to rub the spot between his tiny blonde brows.

“‘Chakra depletion’?” the paper lowered enough that grey eyes met the large man.

That flat frown met the woman’s smart comment hidden in her eyes, “Tch, not ‘depletion’ more like her system was just screwy, either from the forced overload or her hand still not working right…”

Grey eyes just stared, obvious thoughts running quickly behind them before she set the autopsy report down on the desk in front of her, “Interesting,” she sat back staring at the space between them a moment organizing her thoughts before those eyes became sharp and jumped straight to the large man’s beady black ones, “You know what this means?”

The Raikage stared at her flatly, “She needs more training?”

The white woman’s eyes became annoyed for the barest of moments, “We have a leak,” again her hands were folded into her long sleeves, more of a huff this time, “whoever it was knew I wasn’t here, specifically targeted Yorihi-hime with I’m assuming the intent of kidnapping her…”

Black eyes became hard, “What makes you think that?”

Kemui glanced at the autopsy report, “her strike was from the front, even if they came from behind and she turned that’s too close. They weren’t hiding very well, confident in being able to subdue a child,” grey eyes scanned the multiple folders and scattered papers on the Raikage’s desk, it was a strange day indeed when paperwork existed on that desk, usually it was all hauled off by Joshu to be done somewhere _less_ stressful, so every slip of paper and folder had to be important and more than likely pertained to their pending conversation, therefore… “Was there a report filed?”

A tiny blonde brow ticked, but the large man’s hand went around the stack, pulling out a white folder and tossing it to the Assassin, letting her catch it and skim a moment before continuing, “It was difficult getting the details from Yorihi, she was rather… upset…” the white woman gave a halfhearted nodded, grey eyes skimming the report. The large man’s frown increased, “she could be traumatized… take a long time to deal with this…” still no reaction from the Assassin, “It could be detrimental to her growth…”

“Doubtful,” Kemui flipped another page, “it says here Batsu-” she paused, frowned slightly before shaking her head, “‘Bachiko’ was there, and dealt the killing blow…”

The Raikage just stared at the woman’s blaze fair response, “We told her the cat did it, protecting her and all, but the coroner’s report said she effectively killed the guy…”

“I have no doubt the creature would do such a thing,” the woman’s shoulders sagged slightly as she paused in her reading, closing her eyes, “As much as I loath to admit, I trust the thing to not allow harm to come to her…” grey eyes opened, sparing the Raikage a glance, “No doubt it too has relayed to her it effectively killed the man, seeing as it went out of its way to perform overkill on someone already effectively ‘dead’.”

The Raikage’s eyes were flat on the Assassin as she went back to reading. It was quiet for a long moment, the only sound her flipping the page every so often, before he set his palms flat on his desk and gave a bare sigh, “She’s six…”

“Almost…” Kemui flipped a page, not looking up at her lord.

His eyes narrowed, “She’s six…”

Noticing the tone in his voice, the Assassin closed the folder and looked at the man straight in the eyes, “So?”

With that one word the Raikage realized she had no idea what the problem was about his statement. He stared at her, wondering if the look on her face was ‘curious’, “I was eleven the first time I killed someone…”

A white brow rose slightly and he could only discern the expression as muted disbelief, “I see…” the folder opened and her eyes returned to it as if ignoring the previous conversation.

The large man pouted as his eyes narrowed on her, feeling he had somehow just been insulted since that feeling he got every time they ‘ _discussed_ ’ the differences between Shinobi and Assassins, and her obvious disapproval of _something_ about Shinobi being inferior in her mind and she just didn’t say it, was crawling up and down his spine, “Kemui…”

“Four…” she casually flipped a page, eyes never leaving the new parchment, “I was four the first time I killed someone,” another page flipped, “it is normally arranged so _we_ kill someone by age six…”

Tiny blonde brow rose, “ _arranged?_ ”

Slight nod accompanied by a page flip.

Against his better judgment the Raikage just had to ask, “Why early?”

Kemui’s eyes stopped mid-page and stayed frozen for several long seconds before she continued and flipped another page. For a moment the large man thought she wouldn’t say anything, like most of the time when it came to ‘personal/clan’ matters, but after another page a quiet voice came out that if he hadn’t been paying attention would have easily missed, “… he called my mother a whore.”

Page flip.

It was quiet for several long moments.

“You,” the large imposing man raised a finger to point at the white woman, “killed someone because he called your mother a-” the flat mixture of disbelief and doubt in the Raikage’s voice was abruptly halted as the woman across from him gave him a sharp look and closed the folder with an unnecessary **_snap!_**

“This only confirms my theory,” Kemui closed her eyes giving off a nonplused look, “The assailant was attempting a ‘capture’ not ‘murder’,” she opened her eyes narrowly while tossing the white folder back on the desk, “It is also disconcerting that no one else witnessed this, furthering my concern we have a leak,” the white woman sat back demurely, making it obvious she was already past the previous conversation and back on their initial problem.

The Raikage just stared at her for a good long moment. Her statement, while perfectly valid and he too had considered it with the available information, was very dangerous. An information leak meant _someone_ out there knew key information about the inner workings of their village, as well as means to harm it, the fact that they used their one opportunity to try and kidnap his daughter was also disconcerting, both because of the act itself and that they didn’t use it to attack the village instead. There were many scenarios and possibilities that any of this could mean, but first, “What makes you so sure?”

Kemui stared at her lord long and hard, knowing his question wasn’t of her judgment but needing confirmation, “While I was out, I spent my time gathering information on _who_ ordered your assassination, and while the men caught were from many different locations, from what I could tell the money all lead back to the same source.”

“And that ‘source’ would be?” the Raikage grumbled out, wondering what this had to do with the previous conversation.

The white woman gave a slight sigh, “I only had two months,” grey eyes stared at him flatly before lightening after seeing the pout on his face for the unnecessary jab, “My goal was only to make those that ordered the hits pay in blood, I was not specifically looking for a shadow organization to be behind all of them,” another sigh, one that sounded distinctly frustrated, “all the trails lead to similar deadends, ninja hired through a broker that in most of the villages circumvented the Kage, lead to trails of similar brokers, all leading to three locations where I could honestly go no further…” her hands went into her sleeves again and her eyes stared at the Raikage seriously, “Ame, Konoha, and Kiri…”

The Raikage’s frown spread as he tented his hands and tried to think for a moment, “Those three have nothing in common, we’re neutral with Konoha and Kiri and have no affiliation with Ame since it went into lockdown,” beady black eyes went straight to the Assassin, “What did you find that prevented further investigation?”

The barest of tilting down came to the woman’s lips, “Ame’s lockdown is a farce, the village is currently embroiled in a vicious civil war,” she watched as the man across from her’s eyes widened just the slightest, only to further once her next statement was made, “… Hanzo is dead.”

“You’re kidding,” the Raikage’s hands dropped from their tented position as he stared at the woman. Ame had been in lockdown for the past decade, the last information anyone had was that Hanzo was cleaning house making the place his own personal dictatorship, if he was dead… “Who’s in charge?”

White bangs fluttered as the woman shook her head, “No idea, one side is what remains of Hanzo’s forces and there are several other factions making skirmishes all over the place, then there’s the last group and probably the strongest following what sounds like a new religion, praising some ‘god’ named Pein…” Kemui stared at nothing organizing her memories of the place, “I was there barely a day before being caught, there are no ‘civilians’ anymore so it was easy for them to single me out as an ‘outsider’,” she gave the barest of sighs, “I left immediately, having no means to follow that lead in that chaos…”

The Raikage nodded despite the frown on his face, understanding what the situation must have been like for her to retreat, “the others?”

If it were possible Kemui frowned further, “Konoha was also a deadend, as far as I could find there were no records of the men I apprehended anywhere, not in their registry, not in ANBU, nothing, it was as if those men simply did **not** exist,” her white brows furrowed the slightest, “The money from the broker for Suna, Iwa and Kusa went through those gates, traveled through various merchant fronts then simply vanished!” her grey eyes were hard when they looked up at the man, “the Kazekage and Tsuchikage had no records of even making the deals, so either they were destroyed or those Kage had no idea their own men were being used for someone else’s assassination attempts,” a hand ran through her white bangs showing just how frustrated she was with this, “… and I suspect the same for the Hokage, given the absolute _lack_ of information,” white brows furrowed further, “Even more so than the rest of the villages, where those men were at _least_ registered in their ranks,” her hand dropped back into her lap, “if I had to guess I’d say there was something else working through Konoha that their leader doesn’t know about…”

“ **That** is disturbing,” the large man leaned back in his chair taking all this in. This morning he had just his own security and his daughter to worry about and a certain Assassin to be angry at… now he was getting information from said Assassin about what sounded like a national conspiracy. He rubbed his eyes with one large hand, “If such a thing could exist in one village, what are the chances there’s a cell here?”

“Mild,” the white haired woman said flatly. At the skeptical look from her Lord she gave a brief sigh before continuing, “They obviously want you dead, so either they can’t create a foothold here with you alive or they’re trying to spark a war that will draw attention away so they can,” finally Kemui leaned back in the chair closing her eyes, making the Raikage relax more as her statuesque form was making his back hurt, “either way we shouldn’t have to worry about that so much now…”

A blonde brow piqued, “and why would that be?”

Kemui cracked open her left eye and just stared at him flatly.

He stared flatter, “You were just making a long point about our security being at risk…”

“Correct,” eye reclosed, “we have less to worry about the ‘initial’ shadow organization seeing as they will be currently lacking several forces and at least one key figure…”

The Raikage cocked a brow, if he didn’t know any better it looked like Kemui was smirking…

Both eyes opened as she leaned forward, ‘smirk’ still evident on her face as she went back to sitting properly, “Did you know the Mizukage was a Jinchuuriki?”

Eyebrow still cocked, “There were rumors…” his eyes scanned his desk, specifically remembering some report from a few days back about some big incident in Kiri… beady black eyes snapped back to the white haired woman, “Kemui…”

There was that light almost-smirk again, “Yes, Lord Raikage?”

He stared at her flatter, “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about what happened in Kiri several days ago…” eyes narrowed, “Would you?”

He couldn’t see her hands in her sleeves, but the way the fabric moved gave the impression she was tapping her fingers, “Now why would you ask that?” that was _definitely_ a smirk on her face, “After all according to the rumors I heard as I left Mizu no Kuni it was one of Kiri’s top Jounin that had murdered him, releasing the Bijuu and causing it to rampage through the village before disappearing into the wilderness…”

The Raikage just stared flatly.

“Also they seem to be accusing each other which has split the village into another civil war,” the look on the woman’s face was probably the closest she could muster to ‘innocent’, even if it came off as rather cynical, “You should probably arrange for several blood hunters to ‘rescue’ some of the bloodlines before they are wiped out by the purists, as well as beef up security on our boarder, I suspect refugees will come pouring over the boarders in an attempt to flee from the chaos…”

“You planned this,” was all the large man could say.

Kemui’s snapped to him with an indignant look, “Of course not,” was that a pout? “My only goal was to send whomever is after your life a message, one I’m sure they got with the Mizukage’s death,” her grey eyes became hard as if she were staring at her enemy instead of her lord.

The Raikage nodded, knowing the Assassin’s ‘plans’ were never so grandiose as setting him up for world domination, but always simple like ‘an eye for an eye’, even if the initial eye was only threatened and the later was completely annihilated. The man grunted, “So you’re saying we don’t have to worry about them?”

“For now,” the woman said flatly, “It is the other faction I’m concerned with…”

Blonde brow piqued, “ ‘Other’ faction?”

The white woman nodded, “I’m positive the initial assassination attempts were legitimate, however…” grey eyes crossed the white folder again causing the Raikage to follow her gaze, “that report says the man had a Kiri headband, while I was in Kiri I found no records of an attempt to kidnap Yorihi-hime,” a small frown crossed her lips, “In fact while the others were thoroughly documented in the Mizukage’s files, this man didn’t even exist…”

“Like the Konoha assassins,” the Raikage added, nodding as he was starting to see what the Assassin was getting at.

“Exactly, Ninja always seem to trust the headbands as proof of loyalty when it could just as easily be a ploy,” sharp grey eyes went back to the large man, “Also the coroner’s report found a tattoo on his tongue…”

A large hand ran across the Raikage’s eyes, “ _Exactly_ like the Konoha assassins…” the large man sighed deeply before lowering his hand, “It makes sense they’d be after her…” he watched the woman shake her head in the negative, a tiny blonde brow rose, “You disagree?”

“Not entirely,” she was looking at the folder again, “remember what I said about something being underneath Konoha, I doubt the Hokage and his forces had anything to do with this… but that other one…” she nodded her head before looking her lord in the eye, “I have no doubt.” Her eyes were serious as she stared at the large oni of a man, meaning her next words were important, “I believe they work with the initial organization, but while that organization will be pulling back and regrouping, they used the initial distraction to further their own plan,” then she sighed deeply as if shamed, “My abrupt leaving, while unforeseen by them was a perfect opportunity, they even waited long enough to ensure my absence and that I would be nowhere nearby to interfere…”

The Raikage just stared at the woman with mixed emotions. On the one hand she understood what her actions had caused and felt guilt over it, on the other her rash actions may have also inadvertently jeopardized the fragile balance of power among the elemental nations not to mention threatened his own village and family. He mildly groaned, on the other-other hand this was Kemui and the Assassin’s had their own weirdass philosophies that tended to be rash but somehow worked out for the greater good… or something. Again he put his head in his hand something of a headache wanting to form, “You understand what this means?”

“I understand that no one in Kumo is safe from several unknown threats that seem bent on some higher agenda, one of which concerns Yorihi-hime,” the woman said in a flat tone but when the Raikage looked at her there was an obvious frown marring her pale features, displeased did not cover what she must have been feeling.

Despite himself the Raikage smirked, “So what would your _professional_ recommendation be?”

Grey eyes snapped to him narrowly, “I would send out an investigation for the leak while sending someone out to find out as much as possible about these organizations, as discreetly as possible,” again with that frown as her eyes came down from his, “Also I would remove Yorihi from the picture, seeing as she is a specific target to at least one of these groups…”

The Raikage raised a brow, understanding her previous statements and wondering if the last one wasn’t tinged with something other than professional opinion, “I’m also a target?”

Sharp eyes found him again, “You are also a well-known figurehead and more than competent combatant that can handle yourself from any threat,” the white haired woman seemed to huff, “Also your ‘ _threat_ ’ has been pacified for the moment, I wouldn’t suspect retaliation for several years until another malleable authority figure comes into power,” her face was placid but he could hear a slight shift in her voice, “Yorihi is a child, untrained and relatively unknown, it would be easy for her to ‘disappear’ for a time to both protect her and train her further for what is obvious to come,” somehow Kemui’s voice became less hard, not much but it was enough for him to notice, “Once it becomes common knowledge she is your daughter, adopted or not, there will be even more challenges in her life. If we can remove and train her now while she’s young it will give her a better chance when the time comes for the world to know…”

The Raikage leaned back in his chair, tenting his hands as he took the moment to consider the Assassin’s words. They were valid, there was no doubt about that, it was just the original plan for the Hyuuga girl had been to raise her into a weapon for the village and add the benefit of her bloodline to their ranks. The first part of that plan was botched with it even _being_ Yorihi in the first place, his decision to play her off as his adopted ‘blind’ daughter, even if primarily to rub it in those snobby white-eyed bastards’ faces, was a means to try and ‘deal’ with the initial situation change. The furthering complications only added to the ‘problem’ that was his daughter, his, his brother’s, his Assassin’s, and anyone that knew the child’s growing affection made them all forget her original purpose; she was meant to be a weapon or at the very least a breeder to offset the power of her clan and add to their own.

But…

The large man ran a hand over his blonde braids, “Lately I had started to like the idea of training her myself and sending her through the academy early…”

All fierceness left Kemui’s demeanor at her leader’s admission, “Lord Raikage?”

Leaving his hand on the back of his neck the large dark skinned man stared at the ceiling for a moment, “With how she was progressing I thought we could have her graduate as a genin within a year or two, set her up with a partner like the other children of the village,” beady black eyes came down with a solemn hue around them and landing on the white haired Assassin, “it’s not that I never considered this would happen, just…”

Something softened about the normally so-hard woman’s face and the barest of smiles graced her lips, “You wanted her to have a ‘normal’ life…” the almost smile grew a bit of a smirk’s edge, “although being a genin by seven or eight isn’t exactly ‘normal’…”

The lines in the large man’s face thinned out as he looked at the woman with a flat pout, “A father can be proud and expect the best from his child…” That almost-soft look, that barely-there kind smile, it wasn’t something he saw on the woman often, if at all, but there it was. Perhaps the Assassin had grown the same aspirations for his daughter, a ‘normal’ relatively quiet life as a shinobi…

Like that would happen.

There was a deep sigh from the Raikage, “Enough of that, I’ll consider your recommendation,” crossing his arms the oni of a man stared down at the largest file, the report from several ANBU interrogators on the remaining would-be assassins, “What you’ve told me coincides with what ANBU garnered from the other assailants.”

Kemui openly frowned and he could practically hear the ‘hmp’ wanting to loose itself, “I’m sure the information I retrieved from them is the same,” she pointed at the large folder, “That information is effectively out-of-date seeing as I’ve already ‘ _handled_ ’ the leads as best I could given my time…”

The Raikage linked his hands and nodded, “I’m sure that is true, however,” he reached out and flipped the folder open, moving several pages and pulled one out, handing it to the white woman, “I think your theory of a shadow organization below Konoha is true.”

That hard look came back to the Assassin’s eyes as she took the offered report. Immediately she saw who filed it, grey eyes whipped to the Raikage an obvious question in them, “Reki?”

Leaning back the large man nodded again, “The commander of T&I said he was getting nowhere with this particular case so he requested to call in ‘retired’ help,” beady black eyes stared at the woman seriously, “I don’t know what that woman did, and quite honestly I _never_ want to know, but she managed to pick out that information out of the man despite the silence seal on his tongue.”

Kemui’s face became serious, they both knew but purposely weren’t saying it, after finding out about her acquaintance’s bastard heritage she had wondered the extent of her power with those cursed eyes. In her time, like many others, she had heard stories about the exploits the Sharingan was supposedly capable of, and she wouldn’t put it past Reki to have figured out early on how to use it to her advantage in the T&I field, after all she was considered one of the best, “I’ll have to agree,” she said mildly, giving the report a thorough reading. As suspected the man _was_ from another organization, even more zealous towards the idea of Konoha then even the normal shinobi, as disturbing as that idea was. Even more so the man had absolutely no sense of self, no identity, and Kemui realized that her search for information hadn’t been hindered by better security or lack of skill, but by the actual **_lack_** of valid information. He didn’t exist, didn’t even know the name of the man he worked for only knew how he looked and that was mostly distorted according to Reki’s report, so it would be impossible for an accurate id. There was only one clue the man seemed to actually know and practically died before giving it, the organization he belonged to, all that he knew, “ _Ne_?”

The Raikage nodded with his hands folded in front of him, “That’s all Reki could get out of him, as soon as that word was removed from his mind he died, either from his injuries or the strain at trying to keep that information from the woman and her methods is anyone’s guess,” he gave an obvious shrug, “and it’s only through Reki’s speculation that it’s the name of the organization he worked for…”

“When it could very well be anything,” the white haired woman sighed, closing the folder, “This is… disturbing.”

“Hmp,” the large man frowned, “and I thought our R&D was creepy,” he held out his hand and the woman across from him handed the folder back, “From the vibe Reki got this organization, _Ne_ , completely wipes away anything human from their agents, making them completely devoid of emotion and individual thought…”

Against her wishes Kemui shook her head, “You’re right, my clan and R&D don’t employ such tactics, agents are only as good as they are capable of thinking on their feet, each in their own individual way with individual skills,” she placed her hands in her sleeves, almost feeling the need to shutter, from the fact she was defending R&D and her clan’s methods or simply being appalled there was someone ‘worse’ out there was beyond her.

Again the Raikage nodded, “and to come from a place like Konoha,” he avidly shook his head, they may be blood hunters looking for anything and everything to enhance their village, but at least their subjects were ‘people’ so long as they agreed to follow them. He looked over the woman, looking decidedly uncomfortable for once, and shook his head, “Speaking of R&D…”

Grey eyes found him and seemed to just narrow.

“They have a standing request,” the large man said with a frown, “I don’t know what all it entails but they requested you specifically, for some ‘operation’ and what sounded like infiltration…” the more he spoke the more tightly wound he watched Kemui become, this didn’t particularly bode well. Looking around his desk he spotted a thin green folder, grabbing it the large man got out of his seat and walked around it before halting next to the seated Assassin holding out the folder, “That’s all they would tell me, but I’m sure a representative is on their way, if not already here, to further the details,” the frown on his face made it obvious he was just as ‘uncomfortable’ with the situation as the woman seated.

Kemui formed her lips into a tight line, taking the folder and opening it as she heard the large man cross the room, opening the door and calling down for his assistant. Joshu of course answered the large man’s bellow and quickly enough the door was being slammed as the man in the white Kage robes walked back to his seat. By the time he sat down Kemui had read the entire one page report, “This is it?”

The Raikage had a frown on his face and his eyes closed and simply nodded.

Letting out a sigh the white woman tossed the folder back on the pile and sat back in her own chair. When a mission came directly from R&D with specific requests on personnel it unanimously decided that it was not going to be anything simple.

As predicted the representative had already been in the building, as only a few minutes of silence passed between the high ranking ninja and Assassin before there was a tentative knock on the door.

The Raikage already had one hand pressing two fingers on the side of his brow, “ENTER!!” was it necessary for him to yell? No, did it make him feel better? Slightly.

Both well trained killers could hear the fumble behind the door and muted sound that was probably a response. After a jiggle or two of the handle the door gave way to the R&D representative, the Raikage stared flatly at the shorter man and Kemui didn’t even bother to turn around. Quickly the short man entered the room, closing the door behind him and made his way to being about level with Kemui’s peripheral vision before bowing deeply to the leader of their village, “I-it is a pleasure, Raikage-sama, that you’ve taken the time to heed our request…” the short man straightened, pushing his silver rimmed glasses back into proper place, “My name is Otagan Ikuyo, currently the head of optical research.”

Kemui decided to spare the man a glance. He was short, not that she was particularly tall but she actually wondered if the man were shorter than her like Jimei. Other than that obvious observation he was also very effeminate, or really androgynous, and mixing that with his stature wondered if he weren’t sill an adolescent. His short pale lavender hair rimming sweet-looking brown eyes behind silver framed glasses mixed with his disarming looks made him seem completely harmless, and she knew better than most that ‘harmless’ only meant ‘dangerous. That and it was a universal rule in Kumo, anyone with a white lab coat and/or from R&D was simply not to be taken at face value.

“Optical research, you say?” the Raikage spoke flatly over tented hands, his eyes meeting Kemui’s for the briefest of moments knowing she had picked up on what that possibly meant as well. The large imposing head of the village zeroed his entire focus on the moe-looking young man, trying to determine what his fighting style must be, “Your field has something to do with this… request?”

“Of course,” the short researcher pushed his glasses up his nose, “My specialty is cybernetic eyes actually,” neither jounin or Kage missed his glance towards Kemui, though both were completely at a loss as to why he was suddenly blushing about it, “U-unfortunately the research this mission requires is for the Doujutsu labs, seeing as its actually _their_ request,” the ‘man’ frowned in a way that could only be described as ‘cute’ to a normal person, sadly no ‘normal’ people were present to see it. He ran a hand through his unruly pale hair, “although since my research is lower on the priority scale they sent me…”

Beady black and grey eyes just stared at the smaller man flatly, wondering when he was going to get to the point.

Sensing irritation, or unnoticed release of killer intent, the R&D rep fidgeted, “A-ah… r-right, w-well, the thing is, my research actually _does_ have a purpose in the mission… it just…” Ikuyo turned towards Kemui, fully facing the stern looking woman, the blush on his face becoming obvious.

A white brow rose slightly.

“Whoa,” the shorter man said mesmerized, staring directly into Kemui’s eyes.

Getting that unfamiliar feeling of being ‘uncomfortable’ the older woman blinked.

The Raikage had one blonde brow straight up, wondering what the hell was going on that he was missing.

Ikuyo suddenly leaned in absurdly close to Kemui, his light brown eyes level with hers, “that’s amazing!”

Grey eyes narrowed slightly.

- _Oh hell…_ \- Hand met face as the Raikage knew that look on the Assassin’s face. If this ‘boy’ didn’t move quickly he was going to find out just how dangerous the woman was, with or without a weapon. He cleared his throat, trying to get the suicidal young man’s attention, “Otagan-sensei, I’d suggest moving back…”

“Wha-?” the shorter man turned to the Raikage with the most pathetic look he’d ever seen, “but-but! It’s… it’s…” absently his hand moved to point directly at Kemui’s eye and everything seemed to click, even if the woman was just glaring at him, “It’s beautiful!!”

If Kemui were a more expressive person she would probably crack her knuckles, swat his hand to the side, growl, or snap at it. Thankfully of all the bodily maiming things she could do at this distance she only glared at him, “Otagan-sensei, I request you take a step back…”

Again with the embarrassed shocked blush bloom across the young man’s face before he made some strangled noise and jumped a good foot away from the woman. His hand was ruffling through his messy hair nervously and his eyes remained on the ground, “A-apologies Kemui-san, it’s just…” he dared to raise his eyes enough to catch her cold glare, “The work done my predecessor is simply amazing!! I’ve read the files he had on your case, and while it’s a universal fit, I honestly can’t tell which one it is!!” the short scientist seemed to give some strange squeal, further driving into question his gender and age in the veterans’ minds as he seemed to remove the hand from his hair and pump it in a fist, “I swear I will not ruin such beautiful work!!”

Kemui’s glare tamed down to a questioning look, while the Raikage had absolutely no idea what just happened.

Blonde brow firmly raised the large man seated behind the desk just stared between the two, “Right,” black eyes shifting to the shorter doctor, “Otagan-sensei, would you please elaborate on this ‘mission’ R&D has requested,” a grave frown rose on the man’s lips as his brow lowered and the overall look of his face became severely serious, “Specifically why my top agent is being requested, and for a long-term infiltration mission!” to accent his words a large fist slammed on the desk, surprising the two other occupants that it didn’t break.

“A-ah… right,” the squirrely younger man fidgeted while pressing his glasses back up his nose. The R&D rep seemed to take a moment to collect himself, closing his eyes and breathing in deeply, before opening them and a seemingly different person took over, “Ikuyo is fine,” he tightened the tie underneath his lab coat before staring directly at the Raikage, “R&D division D has run out of samples of Sharingan eyes,” eyes narrowed on him as they all knew what that potentially meant. The scientist raised his hands in mild defense, “Before you jump to conclusions, it has been decided by the higher ups our current ‘stock’ of the gene is too valuable as working units, despite possible instability,” he mumbled the last part to himself while pushing up his glasses and continuing, “to ‘salvage’ our stock would only hinder the village as a whole, so it was proposed more be obtained from the source…” he said flatly while looking from the Raikage before resting his gaze on the Assassin, “It was also decided that with potential for damage through field retrieval, direct, covert, extraction is necessary, and I do believe there is no other in the village as adept at such a skill then you are, Kemui-san.”

Grey eyes stared at the suddenly ‘stable’ young man hard, how he switched from fanboy to professional was only evidence in her mind that the pale haired man was not all he seemed, but it also appeared he wasn’t lying. She recognized the methodical tone and detached verbiage used by R&D, if there was any doubt before it was completely erased. She lowered her eyes taking a moment of thought, “I see…” her eyes turned back to the younger looking scientist, hard, threatening, but cautious, “It is ‘ _preferred_ ’ to obtain new samples, provided it is agreed I perform the request?”

He adjusted his glasses again, a slight frown forming on his lips, “It is not necessarily ‘ _preferred_ ’, as the request would be useless with another specimen,” those light brown eyes weren’t exactly sharp but their flatness was unnerving as they stared directly into Kemui’s grey eyes, “more specifically, this is an opportunity to ‘observe’ the original samples, as well as obtain them without notice, thus the need for long-term infiltration…”

“How _exactly_ is this an ‘observation’ mission,” the Raikage’s booming voice broke between the two, his distrust of the entire situation written all over his face, “Spies are easily caught by having logs of information on them or trying to send them off through unknown channels,” his beady black eyes turned to the white woman, uncomfortable with the entire idea, “This isn’t exactly a mission for an Assassin…”

A part of Kemui was grateful for the statement.

“On the contrary,” Ikuyo pushed up his glasses again, giving them an ominous glare, “She is the only person in this village **_not_** affiliated with the village,” the man pointed directly to the Raikage, “I’m not going to lie and pussyfoot around the situation, she is **_your_** personal Assassin, but she does have an existing tie to R &D, and overall serves the village under your will.”

It was a rare moment indeed when someone from their line of work spoke plainly, that certainly got both the Raikage and Kemui’s attention.

“We all know there are more Sharingan users in this village then in our records,” light brown eyes narrowed directly on the leader of the Kumo, “The only difference is R&D is unwilling to give up its ‘official’ samples, leaving the rest to fend for themselves, my proposition makes them exempt at the cost of your personal weapon instead of the village losing valuable members of the our already small forces, not to mention risking someone we both know would be completely incompetent by comparison to what _she_ ,” the hand pointing at the Raikage shifted swiftly to the woman in the chair without the young man breaking eye contact with their leader, “can accomplish in such a situation if you were to send someone else,” Ikuyo finally lowered his arm, somehow keeping that stern look about his features that made him look decidedly older.

“Is that a threat?” the much larger man glared at the upstart, releasing a minimal amount of killer intent, just to remind the little doctor he was not a man to be fucked with.

Finally the veneer of the good doctor cracked as Ikuyo swallowed hard, shaking only for a moment before stabilizing himself, “O-of course not, Raikage-sama,” he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, looking to the side, “Just the reality of the situation.”

The Raikage kept his steely glare on the small doctor, before shifting his gaze to ‘ _his_ ’ Assassin. Kemui was sitting calmly, eyes closed as he was sure she was considering this information as well, “Kemui,” the woman opened her grey eyes and gave her Lord an affirm look, “What is your take on this?”

The good doctor shivered, realizing he had woken the oni and apparently treading on the delicate tail of a vicious wolf. While he had appeared as a completely idiot fanboy at first to them he knew he was competent enough as a shinobi to stand on his own, his genius just happened to be in a different field then killing. The exchange of looks between the two of the highest ranking members of the shinobi ranks reminded him that the two of them were more than proficient in killing, while the Raikage was ambitious with mighty displays of his power, Kemui turned it into an art with her mastery of being unseen. Two quick glances only confirmed to him they were the most dangerous people in the village, if not the planet by sheer presence alone. Part of him felt his earlier display was foolish, but he needed them to see there was reason for this.

The Assassin took a long while considering before she finally looked up, “I believe the doctor is correct,” shock and surprise passed both men’s faces as they equally turned on the woman, wishing her to elaborate, which she quickly did after seeing their looks, “Ikuyo-sensei is correct, no matter the mission, if it is covert infiltration into an enemy village I am the best there is,” she gave a light sigh, “If the mission were only that, anyone else would do,” grey eyes fell on the young doctor, “but R&D has seen fit to have this ‘extraction’ take time…”

Ikuyo swallowed hard, adjusting his glasses under the woman’s intense gaze, “It is estimated cultivation of all targets would take four years, if one were to maintain covert standing…”

Kemui nodded before turning to her Lord, “In order to make the murders seem ‘plausible’ and unrelated, giving a cooling off period after infiltration to not arouse suspicion, and time to properly ‘observe’ would require such time,” another light sigh as she closed her eyes and folded her hands into her sleeves, “and any ‘normal’ shinobi would be easily spotted given such time, especially in a village with two doujutsu and various other abilities adept at spotting lies,” grey eyes opened and once again fell on the young R&D rep, “Although I too am curious about what you mean by ‘observe’, if as Lord Raikage stated, logs would be a dead giveaway to a spy, even myself?”

Ikuyo nodded, “true, normally such a thing would,” he seemed to give a smirk as it seemed almost visible the young man slipped back into ‘fanboy’ mode, “But that’s where my division comes in!!” excitedly he pointed directly at Kemui’s eye, “We’ve created an upgraded model of chakra-based-optical-machinery that can include a transmission function…”At the pair skeptical looks of ‘wha-?’ not so obviously placed on the senior shinobi’s faces the nerd grinned deviously, “What you see, we see…”

Kemui’s eyes widened significantly enough to be noticed.

The Raikage was surprised too, there was no way they could… “Wait, how would this work?” tiny blonde brows furrowed drawing the R&D rep’s attention, “Chakra receivers require close range, and there is no way I’m sending a team to setup a base near Konoha just to receive this…” his beady black eyes trailed to the Assassin, unsure how the idea of someone seeing through her eye came out in her mind.

“Oh no, no, no, no, no,” Ikuyo waved his hand about, catching both the Raikage and Assassin’s attention, “We won’t be using chakra receivers, her chakra would be just used to power the machine, working on a similar level to the normal amount a human eye uses and receives chakra, making it far more believable as a ‘real’ eye then the model she has now,” he grinned something proud and rather stupid looking, “While my predecessor was an artist in design, I’m much better a function!!” when he opened his eyes and realized the Raikage was still staring at him like he’d better hurry up, the little man twitched, before rushing into the other half of his explanation, “Oh, right, well the device doesn’t use chakra as the medium for transmission, but invisible waves at low frequencies that can travel far greater distances and-”

“Stop,” the Raikage had his head in his hand with the other raised in the universal ‘stop’ sign, “Its undetectable to chakra sensors, yes?”

“Yes,” Ikuyo pushed up his glasses.

“It leaves no outward presence that would otherwise compromise Kemui’s infiltration,” the large oni of a man glared through the fingers in his hand directly at the little scientist.

Who under such a gaze really wanted to crawl under a rock, “Ee-ah-ha-ha… yea,” he coughed into his hand, tugging on his tie nervously, “completely undetectable, we’ve even had the village’s best sensors try to pick it up with no success…”

The fearsome Raikage lowered his hand and narrowly looked at the small man, imposing as much of his power in that one look to make the tiny man want to piss himself, “and what is to stop a Hyuuga from simply looking into her eye and find this… device?”

Ikuyo had his mouth hanging open in a silent, stunned not-answer.

Kemui piqued a white brow, she had to give her lord that, it wasn’t something someone, even in R&D, would consider that could easily blow her entire cover.

“Um,” glasses being pushed up the bridge of his nose signified that Ikuyo’s brain had restarted, “Well the model design is similar to the interior of a real eye, as much as we could work it, though I suppose we could try to make it look more ‘natural’,” his pale lavender brows were cocked oddly as it was obvious the scientist was really racking his brain for a solution, before looking up at the Raikage with a petulant scowl, “Besides most Hyuuga observe in a chakra sense, as the data provided has shown, the secondary level of sight is the primary battle used version, and while the device would appear as a normal eye in that vision due to chakra usage, the only way I could fathom a Hyuuga would look **_that_** specifically is that they **_knew_** it was there,” he ended his rant with a scowling pout towards the village leader.

The Raikage had to forcibly stop himself from smirking; that had been the whole point, “It never hurts to be over prepared.”

“I see,” indignant push of glasses up nose.

Beady black eyes fell on the quiet Assassin, “Kemui, are you comfortable with such a device in your head?”

The Assassin stared flatly at her lord for a good moment before giving the barest of shrugs, “if it is for a mission I see no issue,” she turned towards the pouting doctor, “Though I would be more comfortable if it were ‘disconnected’ or removed upon my return, as well as all ‘recordings’ deleted once their use has been transcribed to another, non-personal, medium.”

That unmistakable blush covered the young doctor’s cheeks as he pushed up his glasses, “W-we wouldn’t dream of invading your privacy, Kemui-san.”

The white haired woman looked away with a quiet sigh.

The Raikage stared at the woman across from him, studying her face and body language in an attempt to read her real thoughts on the situation before shifting his gaze on the young doctor again, realizing there was only one thing left, “Ikuyo-sensei, aside from everything, what is the **_real_** purpose of this mission?” his dark eyes narrowed on the small man, telling with just a look why this was so important, “why are more Sharingan required?”

The doctor seemed to fidget as if both expecting and dreading the question, “Yes,” as if it were a nervous habit his hand went to push his glasses up again, only this time it stayed there as his light brown eyes shifted to the ground, “I have no real idea what Division D is using the eyes for, but it seems they are trying to understand the locking mechanism of the eyes, not to mention the abilities, and figure out a way to not only simulate them, but also figure out means to counteract and negate its effects,” his eyes returned to the Raikage’s serious and full of concern, “the Sharingan eyes are… ‘complicated’,” he glanced to the side to the white haired Assassin, “With the samples given of the Byakuugan, and information of live observation of its growth and operation Section B has increased their study immensely,” he ran a hand through his unruly hair, “also cloning seems to offer better results, like various other Kekkai Genkai,” then he sighed deeply as if defeated, “But Section S has found no luck in that aspect, thus close observation of the original clan is required as well as fresh samples,” again his eyes became hard, if still sincere as he looked directly into the Raikage’s eyes, “I don’t need to express just how dangerous that clan and its abilities are compared to many other’s we’ve previously studied.”

And that was it, R&D, despite its relentless and ruthless means and methods truly had the best intentions for Kumo and its people. When it came to bloodlines, they were less interested in ‘copying’ the individual techniques and more interested in raising the Kekkai Genkai to its maximum potential if the subject was on their side, while simultaneously seeking endlessly to hinder, halt, or downright nullify what they considered malicious ones. The Raikage could only sigh deeply, understanding their constant and often mindless pursuit, ‘to understand’ everything to its fullest degree on every level was what R&D was made for, figuring out what of that research was useful or not as also their decision, ever since the first Raikage. With a defiant grunt the large man nodded his assent, “Very well,” he stared into the surprised eyes of the young researcher, “The conditions and procedures needed to prepare for this mission will be handled within the week, preparations will be ready in a month, all other details will be handled by then,” the large oni waved his hand, “Now get out…”

Ikuyo could only stare; surprised he’d managed to pull it off. Slowly, ever so slowly, it dawned on him what was said and a smile threatened to creep across his face, “y-yes!” he bowed deeply, “T-thank you very much Raikage-sama,” keeping in the same bow he took a step back and turned to Kemui, “you as well Kemui-san,” he raised his head, grin from ear to ear, “I’ll get to work immediately on observation device,” quickly the R&D rep straightened and headed towards the door, turning only long enough for another round of ‘thank you’s before it finally sunk into his brain he should leave. Quickly the door opened only to close a second later.

Once the door closed and only the two remained in the room did absolute silence descend…

“I’m sorry,” the Raikage was the first to speak, his hands folded in front of him on his desk as he stared unseeing through it, “he made valid points, and I wouldn’t put it above R&D to have members of Kumo to ‘conveniently’ disappear for their research’s sake…”

Kemui just released a breath she had been holding, “I understand.”

Black eyes rose to stare at the white woman, despite her placid features he could tell she was distraught by this turn of events, “Take as long as you need to prepare,” he watched as her eyes rose slowly to meet his, “for four years you won’t exist, none of us will as far as you are concerned…”

A vacant nod, “I understand.”

An earnest frown crossed the Raikage’s lips, “Kemui,” a spark lit up in the woman’s eyes as they shifted to his, “Use this time to gather information on that ‘other’ organization,” he watched as recognition passed through the woman’s eyes, “I don’t care what R&D’s motives are, but do what you can towards that goal of discovering exactly who it was that tried to take my daughter and why,” there it was, that stern fire he’d come to recognize. A smirk picked at the edge of his lips, “And while you’re at it, take notes on that blocky Jyuuken style, when you get back I expect you to teach Yorihi how to completely destroy it…”

Against her better judgment, Kemui smiled, “Of course, Lord Raikage…”

It had been a long time since he had seen her smile like that, and the large man couldn’t help the grin that snuck onto his face because of it. He gave the white haired Assassin another once over, from her smile to the hidden mischief in her eyes, and the completely wrong outfit she had been wearing this entire time, “You must be tired of wearing that…”

Grey eyes blinked and again the white woman looked down at the outfit as she had earlier, “hmm,” holding one arm out and examining the sleeve, “Seems I will have to get used to such things for a little while,” she flipped the appendage over, an unpleased look covering her face as she looked.

The dark skinned man smirked at the comment, but quickly the mirth left and seriousness returned. For four years he would be without his Assassin, confidant, advisor… friend. It was a disheartening concept when he really thought about it, already his brother and his student were going to be gone for an extended period, a year, two maybe, who knew? Now this.

“Lord Raikage,” Kemui’s voice was soft as he looked up and noticed both her hands were in her lap again as her eyes were on the ground, “I have one request…”

The large man only looked upon the smaller woman sternly, “Name it.”

Grey eyes rose to meet his, both serious and sincere, “While I’m gone I want to send Yorihi-hime away to train…”

A frown instantly pulled at the dark man’s lips, “Where?”

Kemui almost breathed a sigh of relief he didn’t ask ‘why’. She bowed her head, showing the sincerity of her request, “While I’m gone I cannot protect her, and while you try to find the leak she won’t be safe here either, so…” she swallowed, actually nervous to ask, “So, I would like to send her somewhere I know no one will find her, where she can be trained in defending herself…”

The frown didn’t let up, but the Raikage could not argue her points, she had made them earlier and they were still true now as they were then, “Who will train her if not you in this ‘safe’ place?”

“I’m sorry,” she said so softly he barely caught it, “But I cannot tell you who it is or where as was the oath I took when I left, but…” finally the woman raised her head, grey eyes shown fiercely wanting only that he would trust her, “Know that it is where I learned what I know, as it is the home of my master.”

Beady black eyes just stared placidly. He remembered making a comment about a ‘master’ when she told him about her eye, as well as other times from when they were younger, but never once did she say ‘where’ or ‘who’ this master was. Now, apparently, the old bastard was not only still around but she wanted _his_ daughter to train under him.

He was torn. He knew Kemui was exceptional, even among the Assassins even when the clan existed. Was it ‘okay’ for his daughter, meant to be a ninja for the village of Kumo, to be trained by some old Assassin master?

As if reading his mind the white woman continued, “Trust me, Lord Raikage, whatever I could teach her, my master can teach better, plus much more as what I know is only a fraction of his knowledge…” her grey eyes hardened garnering his attention, “Trust me when I say there is no one better to teach her how to survive in this world, no matter what she ends up doing…”

Like any father, that was all he wanted for his child. With a great sigh the Raikage conceded, “Very well,” he stared Kemui in the eyes, showing her he believed in her trust.

\-----

Naota – Honesty/Truth (reference)

Taro – Japanese equivalent of ‘John’ or ‘Ivan’ Ie: a common name

Otagan Ikuyo – Yuki Nagato spelled backwards with an ‘o’ at the end.


	3. Happy Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bad dreams, comforting gestures...

\-----

_It was dark. A feel of weight. A sense of fear… or was it dread?_

_The sound of something opening. A presence. An emptiness._

_More darkness._

_A shift in the world. Confinement. Capture?_

_The little girl’s eyes were heavy, everything felt heavy, why did everything feel heavy? Was the world spinning?_

_Why was…_

_Her fingers tried to flex but couldn’t. She tried to move but couldn’t. Every twitch a jolt, yet she was moving, but not…_

_“…na…”_

-who? _\- was that a sound?_

_“…in…ta…”_

-what? _\- another jolt, a hard jerk, something… what was holding her turned quick, tensed under her still body, then… weightless…_

_Images blurred, her eyes were partly open, she could feel that but they weren’t focused… couldn’t see right… something… white… growing smaller…_

_“HINATA!!”_

-who? _\- there was a loud shout, something deep and commanding… familiar but almost forgotten… should she know it? Was that…?_

- **NO!** -

_She turned quickly, suddenly standing on her own feet, with her own weight but her eyes were covered… yet she could still see…_

_-_ A mirror?- _the young girl walked towards the mirror, something about it familiar… it was… then wasn’t the one in her room…_

_Suddenly there was the weight of hands around her shoulders, arms slipping around her tiny frame effortlessly, joyfully, kindly… that’s… strange?_

_Looking up the girl could see someone holding her in the mirror… only not their face, not completely… they were saying something…_

_Quickly the little girl raised her hand to whatever was covering her eyes but not hindering her vision, the… ‘woman’ in the mirror, behind her, seemed to be smiling… she knew she was smiling, but why? As her fingers brushed against the familiar fabric making their way to the top edge…_

_Someone else’s finger, cold, slim, tucked behind the band right where she was reaching, and pulled the bandanna up lightly…_

_Eyes unobscured, the world looked suddenly different, felt suddenly different…_

_“You know you’re supposed to wear it…”_

_White…_

_The little girl blinked, staring wide-eyed at the woman with white hair and a kind smile, her grey eyes looking kindly as she removed her hand from the bandanna…_

_Something was wrong, the little girl felt it, this woman wasn’t supposed to smile like that… like her- but-_

_She reached out to touch the woman’s face… when another color caught her eyes…_

_Red… lots of it… all over her hand…_

_The little girl started hyperventilating at the sight, the red smearing on the white woman’s cheek while she kept smiling…_

Thump…

_She couldn’t look away… the stark contrast… the wrongness of it…_

_Then suddenly there was more of it… a red line… making its way from one side of the woman’s head and across her eyes to the other… her eyes…_

Thump…

_The little girl drew her hand back, shaking… why wasn’t she responding… why was she still smiling… why was she wearing that kimono… that was her mother’s not hers… why was there RED… **EVERYWHERE!**_

_It started coming from the edge of her lips… down her cheeks from her eyes… then several lines made themselves known on her neck… and she KEPT! **SMILING!**_

Thump…

_The sudden dark stillness just made the small girl’s stomach drop… she could feel it, that tension building across her shoulders, that anticipation like somethin-_

_A giant dark claw suddenly came out of nowhere and swatted the woman aside…_

Thump…

_Wide eyes, twitching… the shaking, it won’t stop… eyes finding that woman’s body crumpled in the darkness… while something sinister drew closer…_

Thump…

_“It’s not your fault…” the presence was suddenly right next to her… monstrously large with two giant blue eyes in the darkness…_

_The body was different… it wasn’t the white woman anymore… it was a man… faceless… red all over…_

Thump…

_Something large and dark wrapped around her, circling her body as if to comfort, to hide the truth, to tell her to look away…_

_But she couldn’t…_

_She couldn’t look away…_

_\-----_

There was a sudden jolt as Yorihi took in a deep breath, opening her eyes and quickly, as if on instinct, the veins around her eyes engorged and her chakra spiked, signifying her eyes were active…

Kemui’s hand stopped just a few inches from the small girl’s head.

She waited.

The Assassin held her breath as her grey eyes stayed on the still form of the small child under the covers. Never before had she felt this… ‘hesitation’ around the girl, even when she was more confused and ignorant of her actions around the child. But now, sitting here at her bedside, watching her sleep on her side facing away, giving in to that little voice in her head that said to comfort her from her bad dreams…

Only for her to suddenly wake up in such a fright that her bloodline eyes activated…

Kemui’s eyes felt heavy along with her heart as something about that seemed so familiar.

She pulled her hand back, setting it softly on the comforter between them.

“K-Kemui-sama?” she could see the girl blink under her longer bangs, and slowly as she turned towards the Assassin, gave full view of her precious active eyes, small tears hugging their edges as something seemed to quiver deep within the white depths.

The white haired woman could feel something tighten around her eyes as the familiar soft barely-there smile crossed her lips, “Yes, Yorihi-hime,” she said in a low soft-spoken voice meant to sooth that quiver out of the young girl’s eyes.

They seemed to shake more as the tiny girl’s dark blue-black brows curled upwards towards each other and the tears seemed to come freely. She sniffled, sitting up slowly just staring at the woman who was looking back at her. Something was… ‘different’ about her, Yorihi couldn’t explain it. Her eyes were too soft like they were hiding something, and her smile too comfortable. Looking further without moving her eyes an inch, Yorihi could see the rest of her long gone Teacher, her white hair in a different style, her normal vest, skirt, and sleeveless shirt all replaced by some long wispy evening kimono… it looked weird. She tilted her head slightly, braids and chin-length hair falling to one side as she wondered for a moment if this was ‘ _really_ ’ her Teacher…

An edge picked at the side of the white haired woman’s lips and quickly, and without hesitation or warning, her forgotten hand rose between them and tapped the small girl on the forehead…

“Ow,” immediately one of Yorihi’s hands went to rub the spot the Assassin poked as she pouted at the older woman. She almost asked ‘what was that for?’ but the question caught in her throat as she saw an oddly mischievous spark light up in her normally so-stern Teacher’s eyes. Then she remembered what she’d said a long time ago, enough that she nearly forgot such a small thing, “… _affectionate teasing…_ ” she mumbled to herself, remembering the Assassin’s odd phrase for such an action.

The small kind smile returned, all signs of a smirk completely gone as the older woman’s hand was once again on the comforter, “I’m glad you remember…”

White eyes glanced up at the Assassin, a light burning on her cheeks as she suddenly felt embarrassed for whatever reason. Her Teacher approved that was all that mattered right? Rubbing her forehead Yorihi glanced down, not sure what to do or say to that, or her Teacher’s ‘off’ look. It was different… it was always different. Those pale lavender eyes made a quick glance at the woman, the silence stretching out between them.

“Yorihi-hime,” the soft lilt voice of her Teacher was not something the little girl was used to, so she turned immediately towards her at the sound. Kemui’s grey eyes weren’t staring at her straight, closer to her hand on the comforter then the small girl and something about them was off, “what were you dreaming about…”

The dark haired girl stiffened, so tense she didn’t even feel as a larger pale hand grasped her own. Yorihi swallowed hard. Her dream, what exactly had it been? Her eyes squinted as she forced the chakra back deactivating her eyes.

Kemui always felt conflicted seeing her eyes like that, open, fragile, soft… weak. The small content smile on her lips thinned as her hand tightened just the smallest on the girl’s pale, small hand. It was such a strange observation, how similar their skin tone was. Most people in the land of lightning were naturally tan or dark, in her experience Reki was as pale as the ‘natural’ Kumo-nin got, and even that was at least five shades darker than other countries. Grey eyes trailed back to the little girl’s ‘soft’ eyes. When they were active those lavender orbs were fierce, commanding, fear may exist but it was thrown back for the strength they showed. When they deactivated the fierceness fled, the strength waned, and what was left always seemed too… soft.

It took a while for her to remember this was a child and not a killer, like her and her kinsmen were at this age. Born, raised, trained since before they could walk, morals corrupted before they could form, and a weapon placed in hand since the moment they could grab. Her clan and kin were killers, complete psychology corrupted towards the goal of making assassins before they even knew there was something else. Ninja were so strange, having ‘children’, when there was little difference in the two, even if she’d never say it out loud. In the end their primary job, what they shared, was the capacity to kill…

So why did Shinobi take so long to start?

Efficiency, another shared trait her clan enforced young, and her master had been the worst. The Assassins knew they were going to kill eventually, so why put it off when it can be done now? Shinobi also knew this, yet they waited till their teens, when they achieved ‘real’ rank… was it because they had a ‘choice’? Kemui was familiar with general training in other villages, only Kiri had required murder for their academy graduation, but still that was typically between eleven and twelve. Watching Yorihi grow, from her beginning here in Kumo to now, even her own hand in training and ‘raising’ her… **_she_** was the one that had to learn what a ‘child’ was. It was strange that her Lord was better at first then she was despite being him.

_“… Eleven…”_ he had said.

The first time they’d met had been almost two years after that. She watched him kill hundreds in the field, even  his own father with his own hands to become the Raikage. She had only known him as a killer, thought it was ‘normal’… was there really that much of a difference?

Grey eyes refocused on the small girl in front of her, the child’s ‘soft’ eyes, an expression in them that would have never existed if she were an Assassin. If Kemui had trained her _properly_ from day 1 then the girl wouldn’t be so obviously torn up. It may have been what happened with the kidnapper, it may have been what the Nibi did to her, it may have been something from long before, either way she was purely too ‘young’ to fully understand and ‘deal’ with it…

… too foreign for Kemui to have any idea how to ‘handle’ it.

“I-it was…” the small girl’s soft voice dragged the Assassin out of her spiraling thoughts. Yorihi was looking at nothing, her brows furrowed in a way that showed she was trying hard to remember what had scared her enough to wake with an active Byakuugan. With clinched teeth and a growl the young girl shook her head, whatever fragments slipping away, “I… I don’t remember…” she pulled her hand from Kemui’s, rubbing the crease between her brows frustratedly. It had been something important… something enough to scare her… but what…

“Careful,” white eyes glanced up at the lilt voice, her Teacher had a strange, kind-almost-worried look about her, “Keep doing that and you will only hurt yourself,” the older woman folded her hands into her oddly long sleeves as a light smirk picked at the edge of her lips.

Yorihi blinked, raising her hand so she could look at her Teacher fully. A midnight blue brow rose, why did that sound so familiar? It was there, right on the tip of her tongue, that phrase, Kemui had said it before… some time important… but when?

The white woman watched as the child’s brow furrowed further as if trying to decipher some great puzzle. Part of her wanted to laugh at the look on the girl’s face, another felt slightly hollow. Like a few things it was obvious she recognized what she had said, but the dark haired girl couldn’t fully remember when it happened. The smirk did not waver on the pale woman’s features, even if something ‘soft’ slipped into her cloudy eyes, “It was the first thing I said to you,” grey eyes looked directly into white ones, watched as they quivered and the angle of her brows increased as they shook, “the day we met…”

A small childish hand lowered from the girl’s face, shaking as it came unconsciously between them. She swallowed hard as her precious eyes continued to tremble. As soon as the words, so sincere and heartfeltly treasured, left the older woman’s lips a flashed of memory entered the small girl’s mind. Blurred together were two images, one of the woman before her in her normal attire, with a pleasant look about her features so as not to scare the girl, the other of the same woman only wearing a different kimono, smiling too brightly and kindly, eyes too soft, and red seeping across her eyes…

Yorihi breathed in deeply, unable to remove the images from one another but set to watch as both pulled up her bandanna. For a moment she was sure one was the ‘real’ memory and the other was some fabrication from her dream… but as she watched they blurred together into one, unable to differentiate between reality and the dream as both continued on a designated path…

_… red spreading over white…_

… the pale woman leaning back…

_... gentle grey eyes…_

… approving, analyzing cloud colored eyes…

… _a spreading_ approving _gentle_ smile…

… **something large and dark swatting the white woman disturbingly hard against the wall…**

White eyes closed tight as Yorihi clinched her fists, pushing the increasingly dark images back down. It was just a dream, that’s all it was, just the remnants of the dream. A dream that dealt with…

“Yorihi-hime?” there was obvious concern in the white woman’s voice, obvious if you knew long enough, learned how to read the subtle shifts in her lilt voice, saw her as the closest thing to a-

Yorihi breathed in a deep gasp, opening her eyes again and looking straight into the concerned, hardened eyes of her Teacher. _Those_ were the eyes she was used to. A hard steel tucked neatly behind grey clouds, soft on the edges, but so sharp in the center it was obvious all of the older woman’s attention was solely on the little girl in front of her. A mother wolf would not be fiercer or as gentle in the eyes of her pup.

The edges of the little girl’s white eyes pricked, she knew what was threatening to happen, but she hadn’t done it in so long, not since she had come here. She would not cry, _Yorihi_ did **not** cry, “H-how…?”

White brows on the older woman’s face rose in the center, such an odd display of concern.

Yorihi rubbed her free hand across her eyes, trying physically to stop the tears that threatened to fall, “H-how…” she started again, sniffing, putting her hand down and looking away from her Teacher, “How do you deal with it?”

If Yorihi had been looking at her Teacher’s face she could have seen how quickly the lines flattened, lips thinned, and her grey eyes become completely flat. As an Assassin Kemui did not care one way or the other about a kill, it was simply done, it was not something to be worried about, to cry over, or even consider after the act was done. How do you explain that to a child already walking a completely different path?

When the older woman’s pale hand slipped away, the dark haired little girl finally looked up at her Teacher. It was _that_ look, that placid look that had come over the woman’s face as she surgically ripped that man apart, “K-Kemui-sama?”

The white haired woman sighed lightly, “I take it something has been weighing heavily on your mind, Yorihi-hime?” her grey eyes moved, zeroing in on the small girl’s white ones as her hands slipped into the large folds of her kimono sleeves.

The little girl swallowed hard, the center of her brows pinching together and coming up, worry spreading obviously on her small face, “H-hai,” he fidgeted, the afterimages of the dream and memory flitting in and out of her mind, “T-the dream… i-it…” white eyes glanced at the older woman a second, noticing her same placid gaze before slipping away to the comforter between them, “… you were in it…”

The white haired woman gave small nod, closing her eyes and simply listening.

With those eyes closed, Yorihi glanced at her Teacher again. She didn’t look the same with her grey eyes closed, she looked serene, patient, not… _that_ , “I think you were dying…”

Again the older woman nodded, not opening her eyes, “from a wound?”

“Many,” the answer had been immediate, and once Yorihi realized it she tensed, wondering if her Teacher would take some offense to it. The older woman didn’t, simply continued sitting patiently waiting for her student to continue. The dark haired girl picked at her comforter, “I… I think I killed you…”

Kemui did nothing. She did not sigh, she did not make a sound, she didn’t even move, and that worried the young girl.

Swallowing hard, Yorihi risked reaching a hand out, “K-Kemui-sama…?”

Finally the woman seemed to breathe, releasing a slow breath as her eyes opened slightly, “I see,” grey eyes turned to her student, an unreadable expression in them, “Do you think this has to do with what happened a month ago?”

In an instant white eyes grew wide, “H-how-?”

That… _‘soft_ ’ look came about the older woman’s face, “You don’t think your father wouldn’t inform me of such things immediately upon my return?”

The girl’s face became as pale as her eyes, which remained wide on her Teacher.

Kemui tried to maintain as ‘comforting’ a presence as possible, but the absolutely stricken look on her student’s face was certainly making it difficult. A light smirk picked at the edge of the older woman’s face, “It’s not something to be upset about.”

Again those blue-black brows rose in worry, “B-but Kemui-sama, I-I…” immediately her white eyes jumped to her hand held out in front of her, the hand she had used to strike that man, the one that had hurt for a week afterwards, the one that-

Immediately her Teacher was holding that same hand, with her right no less, “Yorihi-hime, listen to me,” the older woman did not move a muscle or speak another word until she had her student’s white eyes directly on her. There were so many conflicting emotions in the girl’s eyes a part of Kemui’s heart shrunk under that unfamiliar weight, but that wouldn’t stop her. Grey eyes examined the little girl’s, they were hard and soft at the same time but the familiar look in the older woman’s eyes made the trembling almost stop in the young girl’s, “You did what I told you to do in that situation, correct?”

“Y-yes,” dark brows flattened slightly, “B-but that man, I-I…”

Kemui’s grip on the girl’s hand tightened, stopping her midsentence and bringing her focus back to her Teacher, “You defended yourself from an enemy ninja.”

“B-but…” again that rise of a worried brow, uncertainty shining through her young white eyes.

“ ‘but’ nothing,” the older woman squeezed her again, softer this time but oddly just as firm, “That man wanted to harm you, you defended yourself,” on instinct, Kemui’s left hand reached out and stroked the side of the little girl’s head, the foreign contact oddly making her relax. In a soft voice expressed in a quite smile, “You did nothing wrong, Yorihi.”

The girl’s white eyes stared widely at her Teacher, trembling in relief instead of worry. The same way Yorihi had been wondering how to talk to her Teacher about what she’d seen the woman do two months ago, she had worried even more about what **_she_** had done and how that would affect how the woman would see her. The little girl had thought witnessing her Teacher… ‘Kill’ that man would affect the way she’d look at the woman the next time she saw her, then she had all but ‘Killed’ that man, on instinct, out of reflex defending herself as her Teacher and everyone else had said, and had worried it would be her Teacher that would look at **_her_** differently. She had been wrong. While her Father had skitted around the topic, obviously unsure what to say, and Bachiko had assured her, along with anyone else that knew, that **_she_** hadn’t ‘Killed’ the man, it was Kemui, her Teacher, that knew the details and obviously didn’t care about the technicalities. In the white woman’s eyes all she had done was defend herself, as she had been taught, and that’s all that mattered.

In an instant the dark haired girl launched herself at her Teacher, wrapping the woman as much around her waist as she could in as crushing a hug a six year old could muster, and cried into the woman’s kimono.

Kemui was surprised, for all of an instant, before a soft smile came over her features, and she wrapped the small child in her arms, covering her in the long sleeves of her kimono. While she knew her Lord worried about his daughter and how this would affect her, Kemui was honestly proud of her. Even if she wasn’t an Assassin, never would be, and far too ‘old’ to start being corrupted towards their ideology, she had performed admirably at her age, defending herself against a kidnapper, someone that was obviously well trained and far older and more experienced then the little girl was. Luck and a surprise action often won battles, almost as much as experience and skill. If anything, Kemui hoped the small girl wrapped around her waist learned from this experience, remembered that even a child could take down an elite with the right technique.

For a moment a light ethereal glow caught in the older woman’s grey eyes. Looking up she spotted the ghost cat itself, staring at her intensely with its newer vibrant blue eyes. From the look in its eyes and the way its forked tail didn’t move, Kemui was convinced it was judging her and her actions, both her absence and her handling of the girl’s fragile emotions. The ghost cat weighted the white woman, then as if coming to a decision, closed its eyes and nodded its head, presumably approving.

For once Kemui didn’t feel offended by the creature’s gaze. From what she could understand it was effectively a part of Yorihi now, or ‘bonded’ to her as Yugito had mentioned, and therefore its sole purpose now was to look out for the girl. A strange part of the Assassin actually approved of the thing’s actions, even if that same part didn’t completely agree, physically seeing how it had affected her student proved her initial assumptions may have not worked so well, since Yorihi was, after all, _not_ an Assassin.

The wolf descendent and the  Nibi-kin had come to a sort of… ‘approval’ of one another’s actions, and at the moment that was good enough.

Ignoring the cat as it continued to look upon the scene, Kemui glanced down at her student. The girl wasn’t an Assassin, but she was already leagues ahead of ‘normal’ ninja. Perhaps her upcoming mission wouldn’t be so bad, on either of them; she could gain more knowledge to help her student grow from the source while finding information to keep her Lord’s village safe, and Yorihi…

Kemui smiled.

“… You’re going to become simply amazing,” the white woman spoke softly as she ran a hand through her student’s dark blue locks, nudging one of the small braids that were reminiscent of her own.

Hearing her Teacher’s voice, Yorihi turned to look up at the woman. Her grey eyes were open and soft with a warm, proud, smile on her pale lips. It wasn’t a look the young girl was used to seeing on her white haired Teacher, it was almost like the smile from her dream, “Kemui-sama?”

“I’ll tell you tomorrow,” the older woman ran a hand through the girl’s hair again, the proud look never leaving her face.

“Happy birthday… Yorihi.”

\-----

Birthday –tanjoubi

Happy Birthday – otanjoubiomedetougozaimasu


	4. Road over a Mountain Pass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Setting off, Mission Start, enter the Old Blind Assassin...

\-----

In the south of Rai no Kuni, where the trees weren’t as frosty and the clouds not as thick, occasionally the sun shone through the canopy.

The old man’s hands stopped, feeling the warm rays of sunlight. Unlike anyone else he did not raise his head at the somewhat ‘rare’ phenomena in the Land of Rai. Instead his hand that held the knife, the one he had been using to whittle the stick in his other hand, paused in its next slice. Moving the balance of the knife to that of his forefinger and thumb, his lesser three fingers raised to feel along the warm spot on his stick holding hand. It certainly was a rare day indeed when there was sunlight shining through any forest in Rai no Kuni.

“Hmp,” the old man’s gruff voice bit around the worn pipe in his mouth, “Must be too far south,” was his only determination for such a strange phenomenon, otherwise it was sheer bad luck on the horizon for the old man.

After moving his three fingers in his knife hand over the spot a second longer, enough time for the old man to determine the light’s rays and therefore the time of day, the dark stubby fingers brushed past the skin, setting the knife back to its place where he was whittling.

Three or four strips from the stick and another strange interruption occurred.

It was a strange whistle, not from any human; the old man was too far into the forest for such a thing. No, soon enough the sound became familiar to his old, long, weighted ears. It was the song of a bird, not a particularly pretty one, the damn thing was partly off tune, but that may have been from it having to travel so far down the mountain.

The old man stopped his whittling, sitting up straight and putting his shoulders back as he waited for the damnable bird. A rush of wind on one side, then the other told him the stupid thing was circling him, probably trying to determine whether or not he was the thing’s actual target. “Hmp,” he grumbled again around his pipe, facing up at the silly bird, “You have something for me?”

The bird tweeted, giving that off tune he knew so well, both missing and loathing to hear it. After a rush or two around him the thing finally decided to land on his left shoulder, hopping once or twice as if unsteady, just like its owner.

“Hrm,” the old man grumbled again, throwing one leg across the other to sit more comfortably as his hands continued their task, his ear wide open for the sorry swallow on his shoulder. After several chirps the bird seemed to stop, flit about and give off a nervous feel. The old man nodded his head, “Hrm…” he grumbled, grabbing his pipe with his knife hand, “So that’s how it is?”

The bird chirped a nervous response.

A heavy breath released through the old man’s nose, releasing the heavy herb smoke from his pipe he’d been holding in his lungs. A slow, arduous exhale, giving the old man time to think. – _So that whelp wants to do that, huh?_ \- a grumble passed his lips as he replaced the pipe, twirling the knife in his now free hand before shoving it handle deep into the stump he was sitting on.

Another slow exhale as he sat up straight pushing himself with his now free hand, “That whelp…” a slow growl as the herb smoke left his nose, “16 years, claiming to never bother me again… hrm…” a great frown crossed the man’s lips as his other hand, holding the stick he’d been whittling down to a fine point twirled once or twice, “That whelp better know damn well what she’s asking…”

With a flick of his wrist the sharpened stick went flying, sticking dead center in the bough of a high tree.

At the sound of stick imbedding into wood the old man stood up from the dead stump, leaning down just enough to grab his staff. He grunted with a huff retrieving his whittling knife and slipping it into some unknown crevice of his kimono-esque outfit. He took a single moment, feeling the warm sunlight on his balding head before turning in the direction facing away, there was no sun in the lands to the north, going towards the cold would get him there eventually.

The swallow, having remained on the old man’s shoulder since his movement, bounced around a second before giving a chirp and taking off, its message complete. Out of sheer animalistic curiosity the thing circled the old man with the shades, flying higher and higher, until it was level with the bough the old man struck with the sharpened twig. Taking the short detour to the thing the swallow found that the old man had impeccable aim or luck of the gods, for caught in the snare of the sharpened stick was a large suzumebachi, struck dead center of the thorax resulting in instant death for the large insect.

Suzumebachi were a delicacy to birds far and wide, but the dangers of their giant stingers made them something of off-limits. The swallow watched the dead insect, it was certainly tempting… but one look at the stinger made the bird shake its head and fly off. No matter how tempting a prize, an armed enemy, even a ‘dead’ one, was still dangerous; and Swallows were known for avoiding unnecessary danger.

Besides, it still had a reply to send…

\-----

“By the deepest abyss,” Reki’s gruff voice spoke out into the cool night air of the open deck as the desk clerk, ash tray in hand and cigarette hanging loosely from her mouth just stared flatly over her glasses at the white haired woman standing at the end by the railing, “what the fuck are you wearing?”

The white haired woman, Kemui, turned to her comrade with right eye closed and white brows flat over her sole grey eye. If the desk clerk didn’t know any better the flat line of her lips looked like a pout, “And what are you doing here?” the assassin asked, crossing her long sleeved arms.

Black eyes stared flatly as the jounin stepped out onto the deck closer to her once-ward, “didn’t answer my question,” she took a drag from the cigarette, removing it with her free hand and breathing smoke out slowly as she came within arms-reach of the kimono-clad assassin. She stopped a step from the white haired woman, black eyes looking her up and down in the civilian garb, “I repeat, what the fuck are you wearing?”

Both of Kemui’s eyes closed as she let out the barest of sighs, “It’s for a mission…”

“Obviously,” the cigarette was replaced, even if black eyes just continued to stare, “But seriously, what the fuck are you wearing…” One grey eye opened narrowly and just glared at the taller woman and Reki had the feeling if her ‘friend’ were any less reserved she’d be picking her arm up off the ground. The desk clerk grinned widely as her sole response.

The assassin just closed her eyes and looked away from the older woman, deeming no use in answering her redundant question.

Reki snorted, setting her ash tray on the railing of the open balcony before reaching out and tugging on one of the long sleeves of the common looking kimono. A grey eye just turned on her before staring down at the offending hand, Reki smiled openly, “Aw c’mon, sleeves are for pussies,” she shook the offending thing in her hand, “especially ones this long,” she flicked it, “I mean seriously, all that fabric, all I can think about is it getting shredded or burnt to a crisp…” a snort.

There was the barest of sighs from the shorter woman, in the offending garb, “other villages find great use for them, Kiri for example,” she pulled the sleeve Reki was fiddling with up her arm, revealing her bare arm, “a senbon launcher would fit perfectly here,” she let the sleeve drop, covering her arm again, “and none would be the wiser…”

“Pfft,” half burned out cigarette removed and smoke exhaled, “And what have I told you about those guys from Kiri?” the older woman said with a viciously humorous grin.

Another _slight_ sigh from the assassin, “They’re nothing but pussies…”

Reki snapped her fingers, that grin never leaving her lips, “Bingo!” her smile came down as she replaced her cigarette with a new one, flicking the previous one over the bottomless ledge, “And honestly, ‘ _senbon_ ’, _THAT’S_ what you’re going to try to use to justify…” her free hand made a gesture to the whole unusual garb, “ _this!_ ”

Kemui stared flatly with her left eye, knowing her comrade would make such a fuss and knowing even better there was no use arguing.

Black eyes stared flatter behind rectangular glasses, “speaking of ‘ _this’_ ,” she waved her hand again, moving so her head was propped up on the other one, “What’s with the hair,” she gestured to the odd way Kemui had her hair ‘up’, with none of her braids free hanging and having even bangs, “and your eye?” she pointed at her right eye with her free hand and closing it to accent the point.

The white haired woman pushed the sigh back down her throat as she stared flatly at her ‘friend’ with her one open eye, “mission…”

A black brow peaked, cigarette just sticking out of her lips for a moment as she stared at the shorter woman, “ _reeaalllly…?_ ” the long drawl accented her question before pushing herself up off the railing, cupping one hand over her mouth holding the cigarette, “Is’at so?” she mumbled behind her hand, looking the younger woman up and down again, “must be _some_ mission…” she said flatly just eyeing the white haired woman.

The woman’s sole grey eye didn’t move, staring ‘up’ at the taller woman just as flatly as she had been before, saying without words that the older woman already knew. Kemui didn’t know how but Reki always knew what was going on, from the epic tide-changing missions in war to the lowest D-rank some academy students were pulling off, she knew exactly who was doing what, when and where. The assassin shouldn’t have been surprised she showed up here, tonight, nor her flippant attitude about the whole thing. If Reki knew she had a mission and what it was, there was no doubt in the assassin’s mind the woman knew exactly **_why_** she was doing it too.

Some of the flatness left the woman’s grey eye as she turned to stare off into the night sky, “You know more then you should,” Kemui said calmly, not accusing and not warning, just stating without saying anything, “especially seeing as this mission wasn’t run through normal channels…”

“You mean like passed my desk?” Reki grinned, picking up her ash tray and flicking off the spent cinder from her current joy, “Honey, I was a ninja before you were born,” black eyes stared with mirth as the assassin stared at her. The Uchiha bastard smirked, “Give me some credit…”

Kemui stared flatly, “I thought you didn’t get out of the academy until you were 13…”

Embarrassed red flashed across the black haired woman’s tan face, “Shuddap, brat!” she pointed at the white haired woman, “It’s the principle…” the older woman growled staring flatly with black eyes, “I been a ninja since before you killed anyone!”

That grey eye remained flat. Then Kemui opened her mouth to correct her… again.

“Shuddap!” Reki pointed at the woman, “I don’t want to hear it!” black eyes became slits behind wire frame glasses, “Point is, I been in this game long enough! Dealt with my share of crazy bullshit and two…” she paused thinking back, “Huh… suppose it actually was three Raikage, I remember the big guy’s dad taking out his right after I got out of the academy, huh…” she replaced her cigarette while still thinking, then she shrugged, “Whatever, they don’t seem to last twenty years…” a black brow twitched on the woman’s forehead as another thought came to mind, “I don’t want to hear it…”

“I didn’t say anything,” Kemui spoke softly still looking out into the night sky, sole open eye scanning the dark skies for something.

Reki stared flatly, “but you were thinking it,” she glared, releasing an angry huff of smoke, “I’m not old…”

“I didn’t say anything,” against her wishes the edge of the white woman’s lips tilted up.

The black haired woman closed her eyes grumbling as she leaned against the railing, “If anything, I’m awesome,” she stared at the glass on the other side of the deck, “I mean how many shinobi can say they’ve lasted twenty plus years in service? Had kids? Taught and raised their own little psychopath?” her hand absently pointed at Kemui even if the assassin wasn’t paying attention, “Lasted three kage, THREE!” her hand went up, “I mean that’s unheard of in other villages right?”

The white woman in the wrong clothing reached her hand out, pulling the long sleeve back just so it wouldn’t go over the railing.

“I should get a medal or something right? A commendation for long-term service?” when she finally realized she wasn’t getting any feedback, Reki glanced over at the white woman flatly, “Hey, I’m expressing my need for recognition to the Kage’s right hand, I should get a response or something?” then black eyes noticed something small and moving in the woman’s right hand, “What the hell is that?”

Kemui ignored the older woman as she brought the swallow up to her face, letting the thing hop onto her shoulder and find its comfortable spot before chirping its news to her.

Reki stared flatly as the woman she _was_ talking to seemed more interested in listening to a bird sing on her shoulder, pretty badly too, “Are you serious?”

As soon as the thing stopped chirping the assassin nodded, as if she understood its ‘message’, before scratching it under its beak and turning to her comrade, single grey eye staring flatly, “did you say something?”

Black eyes continued to stare flatly… before Reki broke out laughing, pushing herself off the railing and taking a few steps in front of the younger woman, “Nothing, hmmhmhmhm… oh, nothing at all.”

Kemui watched the older woman as she began trailing off, arms crossed in her sleeves as she turned, a white brow raised curiously. She made a quick nod to the swallow and it chirped a moment before taking off, then she turned to follow the desk clerk, catching up to the older woman quickly, “And where are you going?” the assassin asked smoothly.

Reki just grinned, flicking her spent filter over the ledge and shoving the ash tray into one of her vest pouches, “Oh just where you were headed…”

White brow rose slightly, “And how do you know where I’m going?”

The older woman tapped the side of her nose, grin never leaving her face, “I already covered this kid, I know everything…”

Kemui shook her head, a smirk pulling at the side of her lips, she knew better than to argue, and she knew Reki was right in some aspect; she always did seem to know ‘everything’.

The continued on around the outside walk in silence, Reki a step in front of the assassin as the white haired woman seemed to traverse their path with her eyes closed, hands folded into her sleeves while her older comrade lit up another cigarette. Reki breathed out smoke from her nose as they came upon a large open bridge that lead to the gate of the village, a large open suspended platform that acted as a ‘welcome’ square for visitors and returning ninja alike. The older woman grinned widely around her cigarette at the sight of two figures standing in the center of the ‘square’; a large imposing man in white robes and a small child in dark ones.

“Yo,” Reki called out, waving her hand lazily, he voice causing the quite assassin next to her to open her one grey eye. A hand raised to remove the cigarette as the older woman gave a slight nod once they were a few feet from the other two, “Raikage-sama,” the black haired woman grinned wider as the large man sent her a stern glare, before she looked down to the child in the hood that barely came up to his thigh, “You too…”

Yorihi flinched at the sound of the foreign woman’s voice, she recognized it but didn’t quite remember from where. A small surge of chakra to her eyes had her seeing past her bandanna and bangs up at a grinning woman with black hair and glasses. She remembered seeing her at the desk to the front of the tower several times. The small girl swallowed before giving a quick to the older woman, “Ga-Gakari-san?”

A black brow rose on the older woman’s forehead as she blinked over her glasses at the small child. Then she heard what sounded like a ‘giggle’ to her side and turned narrow glaring eyes on the white haired woman in the kimono who was hiding her mouth behind a large sleeve. Reki grumbled something under her breath around her cigarette at the assassin, knowing the other two wouldn’t pick it up, before turning back to the little girl with a bright grin, “Hai, I see you remember me!”

Yorihi tilted her head, confused but also trying to get a better grasp on the woman’s voice, the hood over her head was limiting the range of her hearing, “Mm,” she nodded, “I remember seeing you at the front desk to Otou-sama’s tower…”

Black brow on the older woman’s forehead twitched under her bangs, then she heard a snort and looked up as the Raikage was turning to the side, covering his mouth. She glared at him for a moment before placing her hands on her hips and just staring down at the girl, a smirk picking at the side of her lips, “Don’tcha mean you remember my ‘voice’?” a grin replaced the smirk as she watched the little girl jump slightly looking frightened for a second, “Since _clearly_ you can’t see me, right Yorihi-chan?”

The little girl’s mouth open and closed a few times, embarrassed at her slip. Panicked the first thing she did was look between her father and teacher, the large Raikage was running his hand over his braids while her teacher was staring at the black haired woman with a narrowed grey eye. Yorihi lowered her head, feeling ashamed for such a simple slip…

“Oi.”

She heard the older woman’s gruff voice, raising her covered eyes to the spot she last saw the woman, only to find thin air. The white-eyed girl blinked behind her bandanna before coming down and seeing the black haired and eyed woman was smirking, crouched at her level.

Before she could even blink Reki reached her arm out and poked the small girl in the forehead, “don’t fret kid, you’ll get it down eventually,” a knowing smirk passed Reki’s face as she withdrew her arm, watching the little girl’s eyebrows rise in surprise, “Everyone screws up early on,” the woman’s black eyes glanced over shoulder at the white haired woman next to her, “It’s the only way we learn…”

Yorihi raised a hand and touched her forehead, remembering the words her teacher had told her it meant. Her mouth opened slightly in surprise as she looked from the older black haired woman who was pushing on her knees to stand up straight, to her white haired teacher who was standing next to her with a passive look in her grey eye and what looked like a slight smile on her lips.

The Raikage cleared his throat, staring flatly at the odd-person here, “Reki,” said black-haired jounin turned to her village leader, black eyes passive behind her glasses. The large man had a slight scowl on his face at her ‘intrusion’, “Aren’t you supposed to be watching the front?”

Reki grinned widely at that, “Don’t worry, Raikage-sama, Kokuei is on it,” she ran a hand through her long black hair as her grin came down to a tame smirk, “I’m on a smoke break after all…”

The large oni of a man growled, crossing his arms and looking none-too-happy about the lax jounin.

As if sensing his thoughts, Kemui stepped forward, giving the man an earnest look, “Lord Raikage, do not mind,” her sole open eye glanced to the older woman, the closest thing she accepted as a mother, then looked down at Yorihi, her precious student, as the faint smile on her lips became more pronounced as she turned her eye back to the large man, “I’m sure Reki was merely seeing us off.”

The blonde grumbled, uncrossing his arms and almost pouting at the look on the smaller woman’s face, “Not that she or anyone was supposed to be here to witness this,” his beady black eyes glanced to the side at the older woman.

Reki raised one hand to remove the cigarette from her mouth and just grinned, “C’mon Raikage-sama, you’re sending my first daughter off to god knows where along with my precious granddaughter!” the older woman dramatically placed a hand over her heart, ignoring as the ‘smile’ slipped from Kemui’s face and the large man shuttered. The Uchiha bastard sniffed hard, “And with my precious son off on a mission and my daughter on a survival training trip, you expect me… ME!” she nearly shouted and Kemui just closed her eye, pushing the sigh back down her throat, realizing this _may_ have been a bad idea, “To just sit alone at my desk as they go off into the unknown!” fake sniffing just add to the effect, “How… HOW!” Yorihi had to put a hand over her mouth to stop the giggling that wanted to release itself, Gakari-san sounded like Oji-chan, “Could I **_NOT_** come see them off?!” she ended with a flourish pointing angrily at the Raikage.

Who was just pinching the bridge of his nose, it was late, he didn’t need this headache right now, “Kemui…” he groaned the woman’s name out.

“Yes, Lord Raikage,” the white haired woman spoke softly with a curt nod made from years in the man’s service and answering ‘headaches’ such as this.

“Leave,” he growled, keeping his hand pinching the pain away from his head as his other pointed at Reki, “Before _that woman_ wakes up half the village and ruins this mission before it gets started!”

“Spoilsport,” Reki replaced her cigarette and devil-may-care attitude as she raised one hand and flipped off the younger man.

Knowing how the older woman would react Kemui quickly stepped between her and Yorihi, reaching out to take the small girl’s hand. The assassin gave a barely-there sigh, “Reki…”

What the assassin didn’t realize, or just simply could do nothing about, was that standing between an active Byakuugan and one ticked jounin didn’t hinder anything at all. Yorihi still saw the older woman flipping off her dad, and being a child looked down at her own hand replicating the gesture, “Ne, Kemui-sama,” she shook the woman’s hand, “What’s this mean?” the little girl held out her hand showing her teacher.

Instead of looking Kemui merely closed her eye, willing the white brow on her forehead to not twitch as a _small_ growl entered her voice, “Reki put your hand down.”

“Keh,” the black eyed woman put her hand down, snorting as the large dark skinned oni of a man just glowered at her. Those thin black eyes turned to the shorter white-haired woman with a slightly critical eye, “How the hell did I raise you so straight laced?”

The side of Kemui’s lip rose, “Blame that on my master,” her left grey eye opened as she turned to look at the older woman earnestly, “After his lessons in ‘etiquette’ nothing you did could corrupt me…”

“Pfft,” the older woman smirked as she took out her spent cigarette and flicked it over the closest ledge, “Doubt that,” she turned back to the white haired woman with a grin, “My son is like you, can’t stand me saying anything ‘offensive’ or making any… ‘gestures’,” she raised her hand as if to do it again, only for the assassin to grab her hand just as quickly making her stop. There was a grin in the older woman’s eyes as she turned the grab into a close-gripped-shake, “You watch yourself…”

Kemui’s eye widened slightly as she looked at her comrade before her normal façade took over and she gave the woman a nod, “Of course.”

Reki grinned, lowering her hand and looking down at the little girl holding her first daughter’s hand, “And you little one,” once she saw the girl look up in her direction she gave a much gentler smile, “Try your hardest…”

Behind the bandana Yorihi blinked, not sure what to think about the woman. She had called her teacher her ‘first daughter’ even though the two looked nothing alike and her, her ‘granddaughter’ but she didn’t look old enough to the small girl to be that… - _and wouldn’t that mean...-_ the girl’s covered head raised to look at her teacher. – _Kemui-sama…_ \- looking back at the black haired woman the little girl nodded, a childish smile spreading across her face, “Of course!”

Reki smiled so wide she closed her eyes. The two were cute, she opened her eyes, staring at them both solemnly, she may not have been ‘involved’ with this whole fiasco but she was going to do whatever she needed to keep her extended family safe. Black eyes turned on the pale assassin as a serious look came over the woman’s eyes, “I’ve got everything handled here.”

Again that grey eye widened slightly surprised as she turned from the black haired woman to her lord. He had a stern look on his face, serious and firm, but he gave a nod, accepting the older woman’s help. Kemui released a breath she didn’t know she was holding as she gave her own nod, they each had their duties, it was time she started hers. That lone grey eye opened, looking down at her student with a serious if caring look, “It’s time to leave Yorihi-hime.”

The little girl’s head turned at the sound of her teacher’s voice, so much more solemn then she expected, but in a strange way eager. Yorihi pressed her lips into a flat line and gave a large nod, “Hai, Kemui-sama,” she turned her hidden eyes to the older woman and her father, a smile picking at her tight lips, “We’ll be back, Otou-sama…” then she turned on the desk clerk with a small wave, “Obaa-san!!”

All three adults just blinked at that.

Then Reki laughed...

The Raikage sighed…

… And Kemui just smiled.

At first Yorihi thought she’d said something weird with the awkward silence, then her ‘grandmother’ started laughing and she heard her father sigh in that way he did around Oji-chan, but when she looked up at her teacher, and saw that light, _true_ smile on the pale woman’s face she knew she’d said something right. The little girl smiled, releasing a small laugh that was easily drowned out by the older desk clerk’s, but that didn’t matter, since as her Teacher looked down at her, her sole open eye looking soft, Yorihi knew she’d heard her.

As the giggles and the laughing fool came down, the assassin looked to her lord, nothing but sincerity in her eye, “Farewell… my Lord.” She bowed her head lightly as she gave a partial kneel, before standing straight, tugging her student’s hand, and taking them towards the entrance of their village.

At the tug on her hand Yorihi quickly followed her teacher, gaining step with her after a second or two. With her eyes still active she watched without turning as her Father and the black haired woman claiming to be her ‘Grandmother’ watched them leave. They both looked solemn but stern, knowing this wasn’t an end. Her vision trailed up to her Teacher’s face and she too had that same solemn sternness and Yorihi wondered if it was an adult thing, to be so serious about such a situation. She squeezed her Teacher’s hand, actually ‘looking’ up at her, and saw as the woman’s eye softened just the slightest and the smile on her lips became visible. Yorihi smiled openly, then turned back and waved her hand as her Father and Grandmother left the edge of her enhanced vision. She turned it off the moment they were gone, thinking that maybe, in that last second as she waved ‘goodbye’, they were smiling just like her Teacher.

- _I’m coming back Otou-sama… Obaa-san_ \- a smirk picked at the edge of the little girl’s mouth as she faced forward. – _I’ll try my hardest and become stronger…_ \- her eyes hardened behind her bandana as she tightened her grip on her Teacher’s hand. – _Then I can help protect you all from the ‘bad’ people… and you won’t have to protect and hide anything from me anymore…_ \- as her resolve to get stronger hardened  she felt a tug on her consciousness, and a grin spread on the girl’s lips.

Bachiko sat at the end of the bridge, his blue eyes watching as its master and the dog were leaving. He waved his forked tails, unsure what to do… he’d never left this place… it was his ‘home’ as far as he understood, and he survived being so far from the Nibi, but could he really-

“Oi, cat,” Reki called out to the blue-black tabby with that strange tail standing at the edge of the platform.

Vibrant blue eyes turned to stare at the bastard woman over its small shoulder, long ears twitching as he glared at her incessant smile.

“Aren’t you gonna follow her?” Reki gave a vicious grin, a new cigarette sitting between her fang-like teeth.

The bakeneko blinked, feeling a strange sensation as the woman grinned at him.

“Isn’t it your job to watch my daughter,” Bachiko turned to see the large Oni of a man, the Raikage, crack his knuckles as his demonic beady black eyes stared down at him.

If ethereal ghost-cats could sweatdrop this was definitely the time as Bachiko’s tails went straight as a creeping feeling went up and down his spine. Vibrant blue eyes turned back down the bridge. Suddenly the ‘fear’ he’d felt a moment ago about leaving disappeared, suddenly replaced by a ‘fear’ of staying without his master’s protection from her insane kin. With a pounce the ethereal blue-black cat jumped into the air over the bridge, disappearing and reappearing further down. He did this several times until he reached his master, disappearing into the space he kept himself around her, making sure she was safe… and as far away from the Oni and bastard as possible…

Reki laughed to herself as the three disappeared into the clouds on the other side of the bridge. Further down and they would get to the gate, tunnels, bridges and guard-posts… and beyond that was outside her network. She gave a light smile around her cigarette, sad to see them go – _How many times have I just stood there, watching as she walked out of my life?_ \- but glad, as she smiled up at the cold skies, knowing they’d be back.

“Satisfied?” the large man’s deep voice broke the nighttime silence.

The smoker breathed out slowly as she lowered her head, “Yea,” one hand came up and cupped the cigarette in her mouth but didn’t remove, her eyes closed as an unusual seriousness seemed to envelope the older woman, “We’ve got work to do…”

“Yea,” the large man spoke softly, beady black eyes still watching the bridge.

Reki only nodded, keeping her pose as her mind seemed concentrating on something far from where they were. The Raikage was no different, staring into the clouds that were starting to spread…

After the long silence he turned, walking back to his tower.

Reki finally raised her head, Sharingan eyes spinning behind her glasses as her bastard eyes pierced the seals surrounding their village, trailing each chakra flow and scanning for any deficiencies in their defenses. Everything looked normal, but she had lived as a ninja long enough to know that ‘normal’ only meant there was a problem you hadn’t found yet. She breathed smoke out slowly, scanning the skies, seals, and all odd lingering chakras in her vision, even the trail that cat had left as it followed her daughter and granddaughter.

“Heh,” the Uchiha bastard snorted, turning on her heel, she had done what she could, it was up to that foolish kid now. She and the Raikage had their own rats to deal with…

\-----

The journey through the northern mountains had been a long and cold one. Yorihi shuttered in the hooded jacket her father had given her for this trip, at first she had thought it strange, having never worn such a thing, but right now she found the hood and thicker material to be a godsend. She idly wondered how her Teacher was doing in her long kimono, Yorihi remembered wearing them a lot, a long time ago, in a different place, but while they covered the entire body she didn’t think they were that warm. – _But Kemui-sama’s is a lot thicker and a rougher material…_ \- she had gotten used to the feel of the thing as the older woman would occasionally carry her when she got tired or the young girl would just grab a sleeve if the pale woman’s hand was out of reach.

Yorihi activated her eyes, trailing her gaze up at her teacher. It was day time and all she could see were rocks and snow. the young girl had given up paying attention to how many days they had traveled, when she got tired Kemui would pick her up and tell her to sleep, as far as she knew her Teacher had been moving straight since they left the village, it was impressive no matter how Yorihi looked at it, and most of the time she kept her eyes ‘off’ to conserve her energy, in the vain hopes of staying awake so she could travel with her Teacher without feeling like a burden. It hadn’t helped much, but the times her Teacher spoke she could tell the woman appreciated her effort, and the few times she flashed her eyes ‘on’ to get her bearings, like now, she could see that subtle smile on the older woman’s face.

“Here,” the white haired woman spoke out in a soft voice as she released the small girl’s hand.

“Hmm?” with her active eyes Yorihi looked around the spot surrounding them, it was a small off shoot of the mountain path they had been following, there was a high cliff on one side and a steep drop barely ten feet across from it. The only significant thing about the spot was a large boulder her Teacher stepped closer to and sat down on. Yorihi sniffed once or twice, smelling snow and stone as she saw her breath form a cloud in the air, she turned on her Teacher, who seemed to be taking a meditative position on the rock, “Kemui-sama,” she called out curiously, “What’s ‘here’?”

The white haired assassin opened her left eye, the only eye she seemed to be using since before they left the village, “ ‘Here’ is where we wait.”

A dark brow rose over the small girl’s bandana as she scanned the area again without moving her head, “But Kemui-sama, there’s nothing here?”

“Yet,” the older woman said, a _slight_ smirk rising on her lips as she sat in a lotus position on the stone, arms folded into her long sleeves as she closed her eye and seemed to start meditating.

Yorihi frowned, that hadn’t answered her question. She ‘looked’ around, her hand itching to remove her bandana so she could see it all in her ‘normal’ vision, but Kemui-sama and her father had always told her, outside her room the bandana stays on. She snorted out cold air, not sure what to do in this strange environment as her teacher seemed content to just ‘sit’ there on what she figured was a really cold rock…

There was a small sneeze at her feet.

Looking down with her active eyes Yorihi spotted Bachiko.

The cat’s vibrant blue eyes turned up at her and stared flatly, she got the impression he was _not_ pleased to be sitting in the cold snow.

A wide grin spread across the small girl’s face, “Bachi-chan!!” she tackled the cat grinning and laughing before she grabbed him, pulling him up close and spinning him around, “I thought you stayed home?”

Once the world stopped spinning the dour cat snorted as his long ears dropped, of all the ‘hellos’ to get…

He sneezed again.

“Eh?” Yorihi held the ghost cat out at arm’s length and stared at him, he looked completely miserable, his forked tail waved about listlessly. The little girl’s head tilted to the side, “What’s wrong Bachi-chan?”

“It must be hard for him to be here, especially in corporeal form,” Kemui’s soft voice spoke out in the silence. Yorihi turned around expecting the woman to be standing and staring at her, but she was just meditating, not moved an inch…

… Even if there was something of a snide smirk touching on the side of her lips.

Bachiko snorted at the woman’s look, cursing the damn dog and its unflappability, even in _this_ situation.

Yorihi just blinked at her teacher behind her bandana, but shook her head a moment later realizing the woman wouldn’t be able to see the gesture, “Ne, Kemui-sama,” a white brow rose on the older woman’s forehead at the way the young girl asked, Yorihi just gulped, remembering the whole ‘argument’ about using ‘Ne?’ as a proper word or not. – _But Oji-chan uses it… and Kemui-sama gets on him about it too…_ \- she sighed, shook her head and ‘looked’ at her Teacher, starting again, “What must be hard for Bachi-chan?” dark blue brows furrowed over the bandana, “And what does cor-corp-corpl…” her head shook in the hood, “ _That_ word mean?”

The smirk turned into a smile on the white woman’s face, “Corporeal means ‘physical’, as in part of the world that we can touch,” her grey eye opened slightly staring at the two, “And for a being like him, made entirely of chakra, maintaining that ‘physical’ form requires energy,” she could tell the young girl was staring down and blinking at the cat with the way her eyebrows moved, but at least Kemui knew she was following along, “And these mountains are a very dangerous place for chakra beings such as himself.”

Those dark brows rose high underneath the girl’s bangs and Kemui knew her white eyes were wide with worry for her strange companion, “What!? Why? Why is this place dangerous to him?”

Kemui’s eye closed again as she loosed a light sigh, “The stone in these mountains absorbs chakra, for physical beings such as us with bodies it feels like a light tug, constantly draining a small portion of our energy but nowhere near fatal so long as we remain outside,” that grey eye opened again, looking straight at the bakeneko, “But for him, he has not ‘real’ body to block the stone’s effects, it must feel like a much larger drain for him,” a slight concerned smile pulled at the white woman’s lips, “It’s probably why he seems sick…”

To accent the point, Bachiko sneezed again.

Yorihi’s brows rose in the center, concern obviously etched in the creases on her forehead, “So what do we do?” her head rose and Kemui could only imagine she was staring straight at her, “What if he dies?”

This concern cause the older woman’s eye to open completely, the worry in her student’s voice causing concern to rise in her own chest, even if it was for that damn cat. She looked at ‘him’ straight, he really did look sick, a slight frown tugged on her lips, “As long as he remains outside I’m sure he will recover, becoming used to the drain,” a sharp look came to her eyes, “I doubt he can ‘die’, but the quickest way for him to get better would be to leave these mountains-”

“Then let’s go!” Yorihi shouted, getting in a stern stance ready to bolt at any moment.

Kemui’s sole open eye blinked, then closed as the woman sighed, “Unfortunately that is not an option,” her grey eye opened again, staring at her student, “At least, not for _you_ I’m afraid…”

“Bu-but…” the little girl’s shoulders slumped slightly as her hold of the bakeneko tightened, “I don’t understand?”

“Yorihi,” the assassin’s voice was stern, “You have to stay here, this is where your training will happen,” her gaze fell on the ghostly feline, “for his safety it would be best he leave…”

The girl’s grip on the cat tightened, how could she let him go? He was her friend, companion, partner…

Bachiko just snorted, glowering at the dog, like hell he was leaving his master.

Feeling the cat’s reassurances that he wasn’t leaving her, Yorihi looked down at him, staring straight into his blue eyes from behind her bandana when he looked up at her, “You mean it?” he turned his head, giving a snort and flicking his tail, but ‘telling’ her again, no way in hell was he leaving her alone. The little girl squealed, nuzzling the cat closer, “Thank you!”

Kemui could only stare at the scene, since she could only hear half the conversation, but she could tell from the way the feline was glowering at her exactly what he must have been saying. She shook her head, part of her glad the thing would risk itself to stay with the girl, but she knew that would make it difficult, since this was no place for a pure-Chakra creature, “Yorihi,” she spoke the girl’s name softly, only continuing when she knew she had her attention, “Whether he ‘wants’ to stay or not, he’s still going to have a hard time here…”

Tiny blue-black brow furrowed, her Teacher had a point, and as Bachiko sneezed again it made it that much more obvious this wasn’t somewhere he _should_ spend any amount of time at… but… “Kemui-sama…” her head popped up to ‘stare’ at her Teacher, “Could I give him my chakra to help him?”

Kemui resisted the urge to open her other eye as she stared at her student. While that was entirely possible it was dangerous in many ways. For a chakra-being to leech off the chakra of physical being was dangerous for both parties, one it could make the chakra being dependent on that physical being’s chakra, and two it could end up killing the physical being by completely draining its chakra. The worried crease between her brows would have been enough of an answer… but…

“Hmp, I say let her try…”

At the gruff voice all parties turned to find a short, dark skinned man with sparse grayed hair sticking up on his balding head and black shades under bushy grayed eyebrows covering his eyes. He was wearing a burnt red kimono-like top that was open with a dark shirt underneath and a wrap around his torso. There were large beads around his neck on his shoulders that came down in a string with a talisman in the front. Worn hakama held up by a rope belt covered his lower half, gourd on one side and the rope tie on the other, and ended up with flat straw sandals on his socked feet. Finally in his stubby hands was a knarled wooden staff that seemed almost like a club with the fat bulb on top.

Yorihi stared at the old man, she hadn’t heard or sensed him at all. Looking down at the snow around him it looked as if he wasn’t even standing there, and there was no trail to the spot he was currently standing. – _He’s a ghost…_ \- the thought made the young girl quiver as her covered eyes came back up to his own covered eyes that seemed to only be staring forward.

Bachiko growled, the wispy fur on the back of his neck standing on end as his blue eyes narrowed on the old man. He hadn’t sensed him either, but despite his master’s odd jump to conclusions, he knew the man was no ghost, but something about him seemed… _off_ …

Kemui was simply staring at the man, her sole open grey eye sharp and her body partially tense, but otherwise she hadn’t moved an inch, “You can’t-”

The old man cocked his head towards the ironically taller woman seated on the rock, “I can and I will,” his voice was harsh and firm towards the younger woman before he turned his shades back to the smaller presence the woman had brought with her, “If you wish that beast stay with you girl, you will have to be the one to care for it, even if that means feeding it your own chakra to sustain it…”

Yorihi shivered as the old man stared at her, she couldn’t see his eyes and didn’t want to push her own to actually look past his shades. The force in his voice was somehow scarier than her Father’s when angry, and while she couldn’t pin-point his strength like how her Teacher had taught her to with the others, something in the back of her mind told he was far more dangerous than anything she had ever encountered. Involuntarily she took a step back…

His brows lowered slightly…

And before Yorihi or Bachiko could notice, Kemui was standing in front of the small girl, blocking the small man’s view of the young girl. They couldn’t see it, but both standing behind the woman could definitely feel as her chakra was spiking under her skin as she glared with one eye at the old man.

“Hmp,” the old man snorted dismissively, “You’re in the way, whelp…”

Kemui threw out her right hand, throwing something that imbedded into the stone she had been sitting on earlier, “I don’t take kindly to _anyone_ threatening my Lord’s daughter,” the two behind her could hear the deep threatening growl in the woman’s voice, it caused Yorihi to shiver at the sudden change in her Teacher. White brows furrowed deeply as she stared at the old man, “Even you, Senshu…”

“Hmp,” the old man shrugged his shoulders, holding both hands out on his staff, “The girl wouldn’t be worth my time if she couldn’t even dodge that…”

At the mention of ‘dodging’ something, Yorihi’s eyes hardened behind her bandana and turned back towards the thing her Teacher had tossed. It was a wooden stick. A wooden stick that had been sharpened to a point and her Teacher had tossed it hard enough to imbed in rock. She blinked, not sure which was more impressive, that her Teacher threw a stick into stone or that the old man had made a weapon out of a stick and thrown it with such speed and skill she and Bachiko hadn’t even noticed. The girl rightfully swallowed hard…

Kemui frowned at the shorter man, “It wouldn’t be worth _my_ time to bring her here only for you to kill her first thing…”

Those grayed brows lowered as a growl entered the man’s rough voice, “ _Your_ time? Hmp,” he tapped his staff on the ground, “You think you’re worth anything, whelp?”

Kemui seemed to straighten, her shoulders loosening as her body seemed to relax and the growl left her voice, “Of course not.”

The side of the old man’s lips piqued, “I see you haven’t forgotten everything I taught you…” he cracked his neck, moving forward, not leaving a mark in the snow as he came in front of the taller white haired woman. His head and shades didn’t move from their level form but any observer would get the impression he was sizing the taller woman up, examining her as only her master could, “Hmp,” he nodded his head to the side, “You’ve overstrained yourself, not surprising, always trying to show those fools up…”

“Those ‘fools’ are dead,” the white haired woman said lowly as she stepped to the side, allowing her master a direct path to her student.

The old man paused, not moving an inch, “I see,” he ‘looked’ down at the young girl still holding her sneezing bakeneko. He frowned, ‘examining’ her as well, “Hmp, whelp?”

Kemui’s eye narrowed the slightest fraction, “Senshu…”

He frowned, “This girl is not one of us,” his head tilted to the side, continuing his examination, “She has too much chakra, all concentrated on her eyes,” his brows furrowed in what looked like mild disgust, “And death does not linger around her… she hasn’t killed enough…”

Bachiko growled at the old man, blue eyes narrowing with each thing he said… he didn’t feel like the dog but there was definitely something about him that smelled… _similar_.

Yorihi shuttered under the old man’s scrutiny, not understanding what he was saying. He knew where her chakra was? Said she had ‘ _too much_ ’? How was that possible? And death… her whole small frame quaked at the idea. Without even realizing it her eyes traveled to her Teacher, “K-Kemui-s-sama?”

There was that hard steel glare in the woman’s eye as she looked down at her student.

For a moment, Yorihi was afraid of them both…

“Hmm,” the old man moved one hand to rub the scruffy tuff of hair on his chin, “Yet…” his head cocked to the other side as his brows furrowed over his shades, scrutinizing the girl more, “She is afraid, but hasn’t run away…” his head tilted down, spotting the growling cat in her arms, who seemed a lot stronger than he was a second ago, “And already capable of controlling such a thing and sustaining it? Hmm…” he continued to rub his chin ‘examining’ the girl. Then he cocked his head to the side just slightly, “You’ve brought me something interesting, whelp…”

“I thought you would say that, Senshu,” Kemui’s voice was flat as she looked upon her student. While it wasn’t in her eye or any bit of her countenance, she was proud of Yorihi, at that moment both her and her master were pouring out killing intent, enough to kill jounin, yet she either didn’t register it or was pushing past it naturally. It was probably due to her living around above-jounin-level people since she had come to Kumo, but the natural reflex of any living creature when faced with such killing intent was to run and hide, and she was still standing before them, shuttering as proof she _did_ feel it, but her body was so used to the strain it didn’t even consider running.

“Hmp,” the old man frowned, not liking expressing he was impressed with what the whelp brought him. The girl wasn’t devoid of fear, he would have killed her if she were, but she was strong enough to stand despite it. If she had more power she would be challenging them despite it… perhaps. A smirk tugged at the side of the old man’s lips, “What are your specifics…” her growled out, nodding towards the taller woman, “Since I know you don’t want me to make her a killer…”

“She’s not one of us,” that light growl re-entered Kemui’s voice as she faced her master, “Whatever she decides, it would be a waste if she is not taught how to fight properly…”

“Hmp,” the old man groaned as he rolled his shoulders again, “What I teach isn’t for ‘ _ninja_ ’…”

A slight smirk picked at the edge of Kemui’s mouth, “then don’t teach her as a ‘ _ninja_ ’,” her grey eye turned down to her student, the steel still there but something far kinder letting itself known, “She needs to know how to be ‘blind’ and how to control her chakra…”

There was a growl from the old man, “The first part will be easy,” he ‘stared’ down at the child who was looking straight up at him, “Even if her eyes are meant to ‘see’ everything…”

Yorihi blinked behind her bandana, unable to stop herself from asking, “H-how…?”

“Hmp,” the old man snorted, “It speaks,” the small girl gulped audibly and he just grunted rolling his shoulder, “Girl, I may be blind,” he tapped his shades with one hand, “But what I’ve learned by lacking sight makes me far more insightful than those that pride themselves in ‘seeing everything’, hmp,” he snorted in disgust, “Doujutsu users, thinking sight is everything,” a vicious grin spread along his face, the first sign of delight the small girl had seen on the man, “makes being killed by an old blind man that much more… rewarding.”

Suddenly Yorihi didn’t feel afraid anymore. Looking at the old man with that vicious grin on his face was, she felt, the most honest he got, and if she could deal with the ‘real’ him, everything else about him wasn’t scary at all. She looked at her Teacher, that hardened look about her like when she had watched her… kill those men, it wasn’t quite the same but the look was similar and she felt the others around her, in her ‘family’ had similar sides to them. If she could deal with this old man, this stranger, and survive his ‘true self’ she could deal with her family’s other sides. Her dark brows flattened into a serious look as she stared directly at the old man, he turned strength into weakness with his enemies, then he should be able to…

“Teach me,” the young girl said sternly.

Both assassins turned to the little girl, mimicking brows raised on their foreheads.

Yorihi felt that fear crawling back up her spine, that drowning chill rising up her body like something pressing in. She shook her head and pushed it out, staring up at them, “I said ‘teach me’.”

Even Bachiko was staring at the dog and assassin like his partner, demanding them accept them.

The older assassin ‘looked’ down at the young girl, she couldn’t be much older than the whelp next to him when he accepted her as his student, and while she seemed to have more fear, it just meant she had that much more to overcome, and at that moment she seemed to be doing quite well. He smirked, “Fine,” he laughed, placing both hands on the staff in front of him, “If you wish so badly to walk the path of a killer…”

“Senshu!” Kemui growled to the old man’s right, she did _not_ want this girl walking their path, she _wasn’t_ an assassin!

The old assassin raised his hand, halting any more comments from the woman, “Whelp,” he growled, far more threatening than he had previously, “She asked to be ‘taught’,” his brows were low as he ‘glared’ at the woman, “Then she shall be ‘taught’,” he turned back to the small girl, ignoring as the white haired woman clinched her fists and jaw, “I will teach you what I can girl, but know this,” his raised hand held up one finger, garnering the girl’s attention, “I will not teach you what I taught this whelp…”

Kemui glared hard at the old man, but kept her mouth shut.

Yorihi went from following the old man’s hand to staring at her Teacher. She had never heard anyone speak down to the woman like that, did he honestly think nothing of her? – _But Kemui-sama is so strong?_ \- her hidden eyes went back to the old man’s… was he really that much stronger?

She nodded.

He returned it, “Good, so long as you understand, you are not **_her_** ,” he emphasized the point with a growl, “therefore you will not be taught the same,” his hand returned to his staff as his imposing form loomed over the small girl, “You will learn what you _need_ to learn, not what you _want_ ,” grey brows furrowed as a growl entered his voice and that chill that had nothing to do with the snowy mountain around them filled the small girl, “And when I tell you to do something, you do it, no questions, no hesitation, is that understood?”

Yorihi swallowed, nodding before she fully registered what was being said, “H-hai…”

“Good,” the old man tapped his staff, giving the girl another once over before turning to the woman next to him, “Whelp,” Kemui turned to the old man, that hard steel glare back in her eye, “It is time you leave…” with his statement made the old man turned away and started walking the way he came.

Kemui glared at the short man’s back, but closed her eye and nodded her head, “Hai, Senshu…” she turned to leave and begin her mission-

“K-Kemui-sama?”

-When a fragile small voice stopped her…

Kemui looked down at her student, she couldn’t see the girl’s eyes but she could tell by the way her eyebrows furrowed up in the center that she was worried. Against her better judgment, the white woman kneeled down in front of the girl, placing one hand on her shoulder and tried to look at her as softly as possible, “Yorihi?”

In one moment the girl’s face was scrunching up, and in the next she had latched one arm around the woman’s neck, burying her face into her shoulder.

Kemui was not nearly as stricken as the small girl was, wrapping both her arms around her small body and hugging her with as much feeling as she could. There were no words at this moment that could help either of them, they were to take two different paths at this point in time, and even thought she knew they were to meet back up again, years from now, the assassin couldn’t bring herself to reassure the small girl, or herself, about that. A lot could happen in four years, lots of plans, lots of mistakes, lots of things that could run wild and screw everything up…

And while she was older and experienced enough to expect that out of life, she knew Yorihi wasn’t… not yet anyway.

Kemui pushed the girl away, breaking their hug, and held her at arm’s length. Her sole grey eye, her only _real_ eye, was all that looked the girl and her captive bakeneko over. A light smile crossed the older assassin’s lips as she ran one hand along the small girl’s cheek, the other actually petting Bachiko. There was a proud yet solemn look in her eye, as she let them both go, stood up and quickly walked pasted the small girl and ghost cat.

Yorihi just stood there, eyes wide behind her bandana, finding it hard to believe what just happened. – _K-Kemui-s-sama…_ \- her Teacher… her Mother… had just walked away…

Even Bachiko was stunned… that dog… that woman, had just pet him, kindly, with no malice, telling him with only a touch how much she trusted him…

For the both of them the world suddenly felt so much colder.

“Girl,” a rough voice from several feet away shouted, “Come along, we don’t have time for sentiments,” and with that the old man turned, continuing his journey. This would be the only time he paused for anyone, he never knew the whelp to care so much for anyone… witnessing that, even if not ‘seeing’ but sensing with his enhanced senses… he shook his head, whispering to himself, “Always surprising me, whelp.”

“H-hai!” Yorihi forced out of her throat, her steps as shaky as her voice. She wanted nothing more than to turn around and run after her Teacher, but some fear told her the woman was already gone. She shuttered as she caught up to the old man, not bothering to look up at him, not knowing what to say…

“What’s your name girl?” the old man asked as he tapped his staff on the stone ground.

The dark haired girl ‘looked’ up at the old man, then lowered her head. She remembered what her father taught her long ago, about shouting your name proudly without fear, somehow she got the feeling this old man would not appreciate that. Her eyebrows furrowed and she mustered all the courage she had to still her shaking form, as she looked forward stern as her Teacher would, “Tenkyuu Yorihi.”

She couldn’t see it but a smirk lifted the edge of the old man’s lips, she certainly wasn’t like the whelp, “You may call me Tougemichi…”

\-----

A week later in the land of fire a white haired woman in a common looking kimono stood in front of the large gate of Konoha, two grey eyes stared at the Village Hidden in the Leaves with great determination. She had business with this village but that wasn’t what was on her mind as she looked at the enormous open gate.

For the first time she missed the great gate strung over the bridge hung high in the clouds. She missed the mountains, the thin air, the snow, harsh winds and terrifying storms.

She missed Bee’s horrible rhymes, Yugito’s stories, Reki’s comments, even Joshu’s stares and Seichi and Jimei’s bickering…

She missed her Lord…

She missed Yorihi.

Four years in these lowlands, in these verdant flat lands with its perfect weather and temperate climate…

She had to push the bile back down her throat; she had a mission to accomplish…

So the assassin took the step forward, for better or worse, whatever happened, happened, and she would be back home soon enough.

The chuunin on guard at the gate glanced up as a shadow came over his log book, a smile spreading across his face as he recognized the white haired woman with the pretty grey eyes and bright smile, “Katsuri-san! Ryougi Katsuri-san!!” the bandaged faced chuunin stood up leaning over the counter to grin widely at the civilian woman.

“H-hai,” she spoke in a soft voice, “It’s good to see you again Kotetsu-kun…”

The young spiky haired chuunin grinned, “Hehe,” then he remembered something as he looked the woman over, “But what are you doing back? Your last visit was only a few months ago?”

The tight smile spread across the woman’s face, “Yes…” her voice trailed as a kind of hurt entered her cloudy eyes, “A-about that…” she brought one hand wrapped in her kimono sleeve up as she bit her bottom lip for a moment, “I-it was horrible,” she raised her head to stare at the young chuunin with watery eyes, “I must speak with the Hokage, I have terrible news from Rai no Kuni!”

In an instant the young chuunin’s jaw dropped, and Kemui watched as he made some big fuss about logging out, grabbing his friend Izumo to cover for him, as he was going to take her directly to see the Hokage. The assassin would never understand how ninja could be so blunt, a cute woman in distress with ‘terrible news’ and they seemed to forget their duties as protectors of _their_ village. No one would ever get in so easily in Kumo…

She brought a hand to her head, she had to stop thinking about it, the number one way for someone to get caught in a lie is if they didn’t believe in their lies. She took a deep breath, from now on, Kumo was dead to her. Bee, Yugito, Reki, Joshu, Seichi, Jimei and everyone there was dead to her. She didn’t know the Raikage and there was no girl named Yorihi in her life.

Kemui was dead.

The young woman opened her grey eyes, she was Ryougi Katsuri and she had no idea about a Kumo plot to hunt Uchiha, spy on Konoha, or anything else of that nature. She was just a civilian trader asking for asylum from the rising turmoil in her home country…

“This way Katsuri-san,” the spiky haired chuunin grinned, leading her towards the Hokage’s tower.

The white haired woman nodded, taking her first step over the threshold.

\-----

Suzumebachi – Sparrow bee/Hornet

‘Gakari’ – shortened version of Annaigakari -clerk at the information desk

Senshu – Former/Late Master (Usurper, Tyrant)

Senshuu – Thousand/Many Years

Tougemichi –Road over a mountain pass

Ryougi – double meaning, two meanings, Ka – Beautiful, Good, Excellent, Tsuri – Fishing

Ryougi Katsuri – Double meaning of Excellent Fishing = spying


	5. Softie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tougemichi isn't 'so' bad...

“Girl,” Tougemichi nodded his head in one direction, tapping his staff on the snow-covered stone to emphasize his point, “This way…”

Yorihi was panting several paces from the old man. The little ‘blind’ girl was trying to stay on her feet, at this point it was only her growing agitation with the old man that was keeping her on her feet. The two of them had been walking in the cold mountains for several days, at least, and the shades wearing blind man hadn’t stopped a moment or slowed his pace once. She swore she would lose him at some point but miraculously that swift ‘tap, tap, tapping’ of his staff every-other step gave her an excellent idea of where he was at all times, inwardly she wondered if he was doing it on purpose so she didn’t get lost. – _If that was true he’d slow down or let us rest a moment…_ -

The young girl’s chin lowered onto the head of one very sullen bakeneko. Bachiko had lost all will to move, let alone hold on to the girl the day before yesterday, these mountains made him feel extremely weak and apathetic, and he knew if it weren’t for his master giving him a small stream of her own chakra that he’d have laid down and probably disappeared by now. The further they followed the blind old fool the more sick he felt, the ghostly feline had managed to remain lucid enough to at least ‘help’ direct his charge since she had kept her eyes inactive for the most part, trying to conserve what chakra she could. The blue-black cat honestly had to wonder what was driving her, she was feeding him chakra while her own must have been being drained by the mountains, all the while following the old fool who kept a brisk pace that had to be hard to keep up with, carrying him and all…

“Ugh!” Yorihi grunted, holding the tepid cat closer and picking up the pace to not lose her new ‘master’.

… But she kept going. Humans kept impressing the young Bakeneko. His vibrant blue eyes raised to watch the sky a moment, watching the rolling clouds that threatened more snow…

“Bachi-chan?” the dark haired girl ‘looked’ down at the cat in her arms.

Bachiko raised his head to stare at her, she couldn’t see it through the bandana but he made sure she understood what he was doing…

… before throwing his smaller head forward and sneezing for the billionth time.

The girl raised one hand, cold fingers running through his wispy fur, scratching in a spot she knew he liked, “It can’t be much longer,” she tried to reassure him, even if she didn’t know why. Yorihi raised her head, listening for that tell-tale ‘tap’ of the old assassin’s staff. She knew, by feel of the drag on her chakra and from the impression Bachiko was giving her, that Tougemichi was leading them further into the mountains… where there was more stone and a stronger drain. Her arms wrapped around the chakra creature, worried about him, she took off towards the sound of the old man. She didn’t care about herself, if she had to feed him all her chakra so he’d survive she would… but-

- _Then I won’t see Kemui-sama again…_ \- that thought caused her to slow down, just enough to gather her breath… or so she told herself. Small dark brows dropped over the dark blue bandana, Yorihi’s mind had been stuck on that last meeting with her Teacher… how she  felt, how she smelled, the look she didn’t quite catch… on one hand that had been the kindest her Teacher had ever been, so sweet and sincere hugging both her and Bachiko… but at the same time, it had been the cruelest thing she’d ever done, just walking away without a word.

Bachiko poked her mentally, sensing her thoughts.

Yorihi just sniffed, refusing to get swallowed up in the thought, “Its n-nothing…”

A flicked ear was her response, he didn’t believe her but didn’t ‘say’ anything, since he too was easily trapped by thoughts of that dog.

“Hmp,” the duo ‘glanced’ up at the sound, Bachiko really the only one spying the old man running his free hand along the side of one of the cliffs, frowning at it in that way he judged everything. Yorihi just picked up the sound of the old man’s hand hitting the stone, the last sound she had to follow him with, “Girl!” he growled in the gruff voice, knocking the stone again, “Use your eyes, see if this thing is stable.”

“Uh-uh,” Yorihi blinked behind her eyes, catching the old assassin’s voice then ‘looking’ ahead. She swallowed hard, her body was so tired, the drain on her chakra alone was tiring, but the straight walk to wherever they were-

“Hmm?” it was easy to hear as the short old man turned, his staff tapped as if just to accent the point his eyeless sight was ‘glaring’ at her, “You heard me girl!” he barked at the child eking out a portion of his killing intent to scare her.

She swallowed again, nodding without thought. – _Sorry_ \- she thought to the bakeneko as she drew her chakra back into her and towards her eyes, activating them.

He didn’t mind, shuttering only a moment before sneezing, trying to ignore the sudden heavier drain on his body.

With eyes active she caught what may have passed for a smirk on the old man’s lips, but it was so small she figured she was just seeing things. Yorihi focused her eyes on the stone in front of the old man. On the surface it was just like every other rock face in the mountains surrounding them, it didn’t appear to have any cracks or deficiencies she could see on the outside. Pumping just a little bit more chakra into her eyes her vision pushed further into the rock…

Only to see absolutely nothing.

“Huh?” the little girl’s head tilted slightly as she tried seeing through the rock again, “That’s… strange?”

“Hmp,” the old man definitely had a smirk on his lips, if somewhat cruel, “Thought so,” he turned back to the stone knocking it with his knuckle, “This stone is special, as that Whelp said, in that it absorbs chakra,” he took a breath in through his large nose, and when he released it his hand struck out, breaking the stone wall in the blink of an eye.

Yorihi and Bachiko’s eyes widened at the quick shattering of the hard stone surface. With her eyes active, Yorihi had seen the whole thing, the old man just breathed in, closed the hand he had been rapping on the stone into a fist, and as he breathed out just… punched it. No draw back to gain power, no extra flexing, no chakra pull, just… punched it… all of five inches from where his fist started. Looking around the large hole that was at least four times her height and wide she couldn’t help but gulp again, impressed.

“Hmp,” Tougemichi was shaking his hand, “But it seems those ‘special’ eyes of yours can’t see through it either,” a cruel smirk spread on his wrinkled features as he drew out a wooden pipe and placed it in his mouth, “But that will serve us just fine,” a match was struck on nothing and a flame came about as the old man lit his pipe, flicking the spent match away and taking a step into the new ‘cave’ he had opened up, “Seeing as you need to learn how to be blind first…”

Yorihi took several tentative steps towards the cave, a sudden chill running up her spine that she could feel was mimicked in Bachiko. The inside of the cave was nothing but a vast blackness, absolutely no light ventured far past the opening. It felt like an old place, long undisturbed, and now angry to have someone enter within-

“Get in here girl,” the old codger barked, releasing a deep breath of herbal smoke from his nose.

Behind the bandana white eyes actually moved from the vicious old man to the vast empty blackness, “B-but…” her voice started before she could even think, her grip on Bachiko tightening as the cat nuzzled deeper into her arms, “W-what about… about the st-stone… th-the drain on-on Bachi-chan?”

The old man frowned and it suddenly wasn’t the ancient darkness that was so scary, “What did I say about questioning me?”

Her brows furrowed as the little girl turned her head towards the old man, “B-but Tougemichi-sama, he-he-”

Quicker than a flash Yorihi was sent flying, back struck hard into the wall on the opposite side of the path they had been taking. The first thing she tried to do was breath, coughing hard as her lungs couldn’t expand wide enough to breathe. Her neck hurt, along with her jaw, and she rubbed that cheek along her shoulder and could already feel it starting to swell. Her arms were numb, stuck in their position of holding Bachiko out of shock as the Bakeneko flared his chakra coat, anger burning in his bright eyes at what the old man had done…

“Don’t look at me like that beast,” there was a harsh growl in the old man’s voice as he lowered his hand, now standing where Yorihi had been, everything about his countenance eking a barely contained calm, “It is your fault she did not obey my instruction.”

Bachiko’s ears lowered but his growling didn’t cease. No one had the right to backhand his master like that, not for what she did, for asking… for worrying about _him_!

A hand came down on the cat’s head accompanied by a forced cough, “Ba-Bachi-chan, calm down…” she stroked his ears back when his growling persisted, “I-I’m fine… s-see?”

Against his wishes the bakeneko’s blue eyes turned to his master. She was giving him this small smile but the bruise on her cheek made his fur stand on end. Instantly his eyes returned to the old man to glare at him, ears down and eyes sharp, but he stopped growling if only for her sake.

Yorihi coughed two more times before making her way back to her feet. She rubbed her cheek on her shoulder before ‘looking’ back at her new ‘Master’. Nothing about the old man’s continence was remorseful of his action, but neither did he seem to enjoy it, by his stance alone it seemed he thought he was justified, merely enacting a punishment on an unruly student. Her brows furrowed as she bit her lip, holding Bachiko tight. – _I did swear… not to hesitate, not to question…_ \- she raised her head, eyebrows furrowed over her bandana as if she were glaring, “My… apologies, Tougemichi-sama, for he-hesitating…”

“Hmp,” the old man gave an imperceptible nod, “Don’t call me that,” his body seemed to ‘relax’, as much as he did, as he took the pipe out of his mouth, “If you are going to use that name, only say ‘Tougemichi’,” he hit the pipe to his hand, removing the ash and quickly replacing the crushed herbs into the pipe, “… the rest is unnecessary.”

Yorihi bowed her head, knowing the old man couldn’t see it, but felt he would know anyway, “Yes, Tougemichi…” she watched him as he turned around, not ‘glancing’ her way or motioning towards her at all, just turned back toward the darkness of the cave. Yorihi bit her lip, ignoring the stinging in her cheek and various other parts of her body. She turned the way he went, eyebrows even as she just watched him walk further into the cave, “Why does Kemui-sama not call you by your name?” she shouted without even realizing it.

The old man stopped, “Hmm?” a grisly brow rose over the black shades, “Have I ever said that was my ‘name’ child?” he turned back to her and heard as her surprise as both her and that beast she carried stiffened, “All I said was ‘you may call me…’ not that it was my true name…”

The young girl’s brows furrowed, a memory coming to mind as she remember the distinct wording her Teacher used the first time they met, “Kemui… Kemui-sama s-said the same thing…”

“Mmh,” the old man nodded unconsciously, holding the pipe as he breathed in its fumes, “That must be the name they finally gave her when she was thrown out, hmp,” he gave a half-laugh, “Not surprising… it fits her better than her true name…”

Dark brows stayed furrowed over her bandana as Yorihi stared at the old man, “What does that mean?”

Tougemichi gave a long exhale, smoke coming from his nose, “I may tell you if I feel inclined,” those grey brows furrowed behind the black shades as he ‘stared’ at the small girl, “First things first, girl, get in here so I can close this hole…”

Yorihi tensed only a moment, before gripping her hands into tiny fist, holding her chin up high, the only visible sign she was glaring were her furrowed brows as she took purposeful strides into the cave. She pushed her chakra out as the drain from the stone increased, hoping to keep Bachiko well ‘fed’ so he wouldn’t feel worse.

“Hmp,” the old man just shrugged his shoulder, walking to the open side of the stone, making three seals with one hand and placing it on the rock. Quickly the rock seemed to take on a life of its own, growing to fill in the hole.

Yorihi watched as the last of the light filled in, swallowing hard and trying to not be afraid of the absolute darkness that consumed them.

“You’ll get used to it,” the old assassin spoke gruffly once all light was gone, not that it made a difference to him, “There is about another day’s walk to my home…”

“You _live_ here?” Yorihi couldn’t help the squeak in her voice, this was the first time she was in absolute darkness, not even a shred of light to be had, not a crack at the bottom of her vision, nothing.

“Hmp,” the old man seemed to growl as he walked towards the girl, knowing exactly where she was in the darkness, staff tapping causing her to stiffen the closer he came, “light, dark, day, night, it makes no difference to me,” he moved his shades knowing at least the cat would catch the sound, “few things live in these caverns due to the darkness and the stone, it ensures my own peace from the world I left long ago…”

Yorihi blinked, not that it helped her at all, as she felt the old man walk by with the light shift in the air, “B-but how?” the tapping stopped and she had to wonder if he turned towards her, “How do you live here, no light, no food, no water,” she breathed out loudly as Bachiko sneezed, “no air?”

That becoming-familiar grunt from the old man, “Hmp, no wonder you ninja are so weak…”

Yorihi frowned, brows deep in a glare, not that anyone could see it.

Tougemichi rolled his shoulder, “None of my kin would look at this situation as such,” a crack of the neck, “While you worry about what you ‘don’t’ have, we would be finding what we ‘do’ have,” he gave a swift ‘tap’ of his staff, “These caves were formed by snow melting on these mountains and the water finding cracks to slip through, so immediately we have both air and water,” he started walking, staff ‘taping’ with each off-step, “and where there is water, plants grow, therefore we have food,” he gave a grunt noticing small steps not following, “where there are plants, small creatures to eat them,” it took a moment but soon the girl started trailing the ‘taping’, just as she had on the way up to this part of the mountain, “those creatures, and the larger ones that eat them, we can also eat… if in the mood to hunt.”

“Th-there are creatures in these caves?” she couldn’t help having one hand out, being utterly truly without light was similar to the sense of vertigo she used to get when she was first activating her eyes. – _Are my eyes even ‘on’?_ \- she couldn’t tell, a quick feel around the side of her head and there were the tell-tale bulging veins. – _Yep… on… and I still can’t see…_ \- it was a very… strange feeling, knowing she very well ‘ _could_ ’ see everything, but at the moment ‘ _couldn’t’_. She shrugged, not that anyone would see, but felt no reason to keep them on if she couldn’t use them, and they were such a drai-

“Leave them on,” the gruff old man’s voice spoke out in the darkness.

With no means to ‘see’ and vaguely judging distances by sound, it was no surprise when the small girl bumped right into the old man. She bounced off quickly, landing on the stone floor, rubbing her nose. She couldn’t see it, but she got the feeling Tougemichi was shaking his head at her.

“Hmp,” the old man frowned, breathing in smoke and just shaking his head, “Leave them on as long as you can girl, it will help in your training,” he breathed out a long stream of smoke, “And yes, there are ‘creatures’ in these caves, some I doubt have ever seen the light of day…”

The young girl shuttered, picking herself. Her nose twitched at the sudden addition of herbal smoke to the stagnant air, finding it far easier to track her new Master by that smell then just his shuffling steps. She quickly followed him, Bachiko hung listlessly in her arms as she tried to juggle the strain on her reserves between him and the stone, through lengthy breaths she questioned the old man, “H-how is it s-supposed to help?”

“Hmp,” surprisingly it sounded like he might be grinning as he effortlessly walked around a group of stalagmites, Yorihi of course effortlessly tripped over them, “Tell me girl, how do you feel at this moment?”

She panted heavily, pushing herself up as Bachiko nudged her with all the strength he had. His tail was down, his ears were limp and he did not like this place, sure he could ‘see’, sort of, but with the constant drain he was barely any help. He was as useful as a pet rock. Yorihi tried not to snort at the impression he was giving, as she picked him back up and sniffed her way back to her grouchy master, “V-very… v-very… drained… Tougemichi,” she barely answered, taking a deep breath to try and gather back some energy.

There was no indication but the old man was smirking, “You should be girl,” she heard him tapping the wooden pipe against one of the stone columns, the bright flecks of dwindling light as the sparks jumped out and quickly died, “Hmp, your chakra right now is being split four ways, to your eyes, to the mountain, that beast, and keeping you alive,” she had to squint, even behind the bandana, as he relit the herbs in the pipe, “right now, you are surviving with less than a quarter of what you would normally be…”

“Th-than…” it was really hard to breathe, and she didn’t know if it was the ‘new’ smoke or just the stale air, or the fact they weren’t moving for once, “Wh-why… stay… h-here?”

Tougemichi nodded, though she wouldn’t have noticed, “That whelp wanted you to learn two things while under my tutelage, being blind,” he held up one finger, though in the lightless black neither could see it, “And chakra control, now” that hand went behind his back as he ‘stared’ down at his pupil, “What is the best way to learn chakra control?”

Yorihi’s eyes were narrowed on the old man, and even if they were outside he wouldn’t see it, “Exercises,” was her one word answer.

“Hmp,” the old man nodded in the dark, turning on his heel and snorting a small puff of smoke, “that is one way, chakra pathways are like muscles for the spirit, they must be worked constantly to grow…”

At the sound of his voice moving away, Yorihi took one last deep breath, sniffing the air for smoke and trotting after the ‘taping’ steps, “B-but… wouldn’t… that just…” she took a deep breath catching up, “make the chakra reserves… ‘ _larger_ ’ then?”

“That depends,” he grunted, turning a corner, sensing as the girl trailed a few steps before turning around and finding him again, “like muscles certain exercises grow reserves, others grow control, similar to bulk and strength.”

The young girl swallowed, her stomach suddenly reminding her it was starving from all this ‘exercise’, “Wh-what’s t-the… difference?”

The old man’s hand shuffled around in the deep sleeve pockets of his robe then threw something over his shoulder, Yorihi didn’t even notice his action until something hard hit her in the face, Bachiko quickly caught the jerky, nibbling off a piece for himself, “Chakra reserves, like bulk in muscles, just build up size, while Chakra control and muscle strength build up the ‘ability’ of the chakra or muscle.” The old man breathed out a bit of smoke, listening as the girl and the cat were growling at each other over the food, “Stronger muscles mean more power in blows; greater chakra control means more chakra based abilities can be used, ideally for less…”

“So…” Yorihi shoved the rest of the jerky in her mouth, quickly chewing and swallowing while she could feel Bachiko growling at her, “By my having ‘less’ chakra… I can learn better control?”

“Hmp, partly,” the old man grunted, turning another corner and amused it took her less time to realize it, “Your concentration is split three way, to your eyes, to that beast, and whatever else you are doing, you have no control over the mountain absorbing your chakra, but that drag is obviously felt,” Tougemichi perked an ear when he didn’t hear footsteps following him, “Girl?”

“H-hai!” Yorihi quickly jumped out of a pile of stalagmites, Bachiko shaking off as he got slightly wet.

“Hrm…” was the old man’s gruff growl, “As I was saying,” he turned, convinced the child would find him, “With the constant drain your chakra will continue to grow to compensate for it, and with your concentration having to be split, your control will constantly be tested, for if it slips for even one moment-” there was another stumble and crash in what he assumed was a column this time, he merely snorted out smoke as a response, “you will surely pay dearly for it…”

“O-ow,” Yorihi raised her arm, it felt slick and tender, she must have cut it on some of the rocks, she breathed in a hiss through her teeth, “T-that hurt…”

Bachiko lowered his ears as he sat in front of the girl. He felt terrible, unable to do anything to help…

“Hmp,” a deep exhale of smoke told the two the ‘Master’ was upon them, “Break anything?”

Yorihi blinked behind her bandana, unconsciously feeling along her arm, “N-no.”

“Hmp,” Again that grunt, “Give me your arm,” the young now-very-really-blind girl held her arm out, not knowing quite where her new master was.  Tougemichi grunted, kneeling down and feeling the cut over, ignoring as she hissed. He shook his head, children, always getting hurt by such little things, “Just like that whelp,” he grumbled to himself, not realizing the girl would hear him, as he pulled out an herb paste and ran it along the cut, “Leave that on for a few hours, it should ensure there’s no infection,” with that the old man grunted as he stood up, ready to continue.

Yorihi felt the goo on her arm; it was all tingly, and smelled like herbs…- _like the medicine Kemui-sama uses_ \- she raised her head to look at the old man, thank him, but again she couldn’t ‘see’ anything, “T-thank you…” it was quit for a moment, then she heard his grunt. A smile pulled at the girl’s mouth as she hopped up, feeling out for where Bachiko went, quickly grabbing him and going towards the sound of ‘tapping’, “Tougemichi,” she called as she caught up to him, “What did you mean? A-about Kemui-sama?”

“Hm?” the old man grunted.

“You kept referring to her as ‘whelp’, like you call me ‘girl’,” the young girl explained, hoping he’d elaborate.

“Hmp,” he grunt, “Suppose I do,” he gave a deep exhale, “In time girl, now is about your training…” he ignored as he could sense her head go down, obviously depressed about being shut out. He frowned, “You’re different girl, when we train here, it is to learn a chakra control so precise it makes it so we have no need for large reserves,” he threw out, wanting to ignore the child’s sullenness, “You will be learning in a similar way, but since you are not one of us, it is integral your chakra reserves grow exponentially to continue challenging your control,” the hand holding his staff went behind his back, causing the ‘tapping’ to stop, but the staff to be sticking out significantly, “You already have larger reserves then I require, but I doubt they are much to a Ninja…”

Yorihi felt something shift in front of her, and the ‘tapping’ stop… then something hard hitting her side. Curious, she reached out with one hand, shifting Bachiko into the other, and grabbing whatever it was… through feel alone she could tell it wasn’t stone, it wasn’t sucking her chakra and wasn’t as hard. Then she remembered the ‘tapping’ stop. – _His staff?_ \- she stayed with it as he continued walking, just curious…

Then she smiled, grabbing the staff, using it to follow her new master…

Bachiko rolled his eyes in her arm. Yorihi got the distinct impression he was mumbling something along the lines of ‘softie’. The young girl had to bit her bottom lip to stop the giggling that wanted to let loose at the idea, but she did smile.

Tougemichi continued his lecture, never once mentioning the tug on his staff, or the fact the girl didn’t trip on anything else on their way to his home.

\-----

Softie – (no direct translation) closest being: Shiorashii (gentle, meek, sweet, modest) Hito (human)


	6. Curious Circumstances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bee and Yugito return home, but something's missing...

It was another cloudy morning.

Taro was making a house of cards on his side of the guard shack. Ever so slowly the brown haired chuunin delicately slid a Queen of Hearts on top of an Ace of Spades. With the action complete, and the five card-high house not yet toppled over, he grabbed the next card.

Naota watched impassively. The glasses wearing chuunin had literally nothing to do; the logs were all checked, double-checked, triple-checked and found to have no errors. The dark blue-haired chuunin had spent a good amount of time dusting the guard shack here and there, as last shift had left a _complete_ mess… or so they claimed, since the pale chuunin had nothing better to do. The cleaning quickly stopped the moment Taro started making the house of cards, seeing as the movement toppled the deck pretty quickly, and since Naota was a very ‘respectful’ person of other’s… oddities and interests, decided to just sit down at watch him.

That is until the dark haired and eyed chuunin suddenly looked towards the bridge, sensing a large amount of malevolent chakra bursting their way…

Immediately Naota was out of the guard shack, two tanto drawn in reverse grips as the chuunin watched the bridge with narrowed eyes behind glasses.

Taro was a bit slower, as he had just tossed the Jack of Clubs and 10 of Diamonds over his shoulder, drawing the iron bat off his back and standing next to his partner, trusting their judgment that whatever it was crossing the bridge was a potential threat.

For a second the two battle-ready chuunin watched the clouds roll along the solitary bridge…

Then-

“OH SWEET-THANK YOU AND HALLELUYAH!!” something yellow, chakra covered and _LOUD_ burst across the bridge, right passed the two stunned chuunin and towards the big gate and-!

Hugged it?

Both Naota and Taro’s left brow twitched as they turned slowly towards whatever-it-was and spotted… Nii Yugito, in badly torn and ripped up travel clothing… **_hugging_** … the gate.

“Wha-?” Taro’s mouth rightfully just dropped as a wayward hand vacantly pointed at… Yugito hugging the gate, “Nao-tan, I’m seeing this right?”

“It would appear… so?” the dark blue haired chuunin just blinked, pushing up their glasses, not sure what to think about… Yugito hugging the gate…

Then there came a boisterous laughter from the bridge, “Yugi-chan, ya gotta understand, just happy to be close and so far from the coast, dig?”

Two chuunin heads turned… and found Killer Bee, in equally torn up and damaged travel wear, just grinning wide.

“Sempai, quiet, don’t have time to pull an Aneue on you,” the twin-tailed blonde rubbed her cheek along the engraved giant gate, “savoring this moment…”

The Chuunin blinked.

Bee frowned, clicking his tongue before looking at the stunned chuunin, “Yo, ya’ll better cut loose and give this gate a boost,” he gestured with his thumb over his shoulder, “We got people to see, places to be, don’t wanna leave bro out in the cold, yo.”

“Two slants and a visual,” mumbled Yugito at the gate.

Tiny blonde brows came down on the dark skinned jinchuuriki, “Pfft, like I wanna hear that from you, I’ll have Sista’ on me pretty soon,” Bee bent his middle and ring finger on one hand and pointed at the blonde woman, his frown pretty obvious, but nothing on the Cheshire grin she  was giving in return.

Naota and Taro were just glancing back and forth at the exchange, not sure they should move, or speak… or breathe honestly. These were the village’s two Jinchuuriki, and they had been listed as on an ‘extended training exercise’ with no permanent date of return. It had been at least a year and a half since they left, and the way they were bickering certainly let it show.

The two chuunin gave each other a look, then Naota just sighed, shrugging before bringing their hand to pale lips and letting out a loud whistle.

The sudden sound stopped the two Jinchuuriki from their continuing debate on semantics before there was a loud groan of metal and everyone present could hear the chains supporting the gate brought taught and start to pull the thing up. Yugito gave a whine, having to ‘let go’ of the thing as it quickly raised before sneaking under it quickly and running off. Bee just shrugged his shoulder before giving the two chuunin a quick nod and stunning grin before walking casually under the thing, bending just enough to get under and going after his comrade. After another second the chains groaned again, slacked, and the gate dropped, shaking the entire bridge.

Taro just flatly stared, and opened his mouth to complain-

“Don’t even,” was Naota’s crisp voice as the bespeckled chuunin quickly sheathed their tantos and walked briskly back into the guard house.

Taro pouted, sticking his lip out like a little kid, before going back in as well in a bit of a huff. As soon as he opened the guard house door he saw Naota already seated in their chair… and his house of cards had completely collapsed and was all over the floor. Brown eyes just glared at the cards littering the floor, but quickly closed the door and crouched to pick them up, the first being the King of Spades, “Guess it’s time to start over…”

\-----

Reki was reading a ‘report’, which definitely wasn’t a concealed copy of ‘Tobacco Enthusiasts Monthly’, when a deeply ingrained sixth sense, honed from over two decades of ninja service, started ringing in the back of her mind. Thin black eyes narrowed behind wireframe glasses as she lowered the ‘report’, neatly closing the file and stashing her magazine under her desk before her assistant noticed. She swiveled around in her wheelie chair, nothing from admin, nothing from accounting, nothing from records…

The black haired woman brought a hand up and held the cigarette in her mouth in deep thought, trying to guess where the ‘sensation’ was coming from.

“Uh, Taichou?” Kokuei turned around in his wheelie chair, he was perhaps Reki’s longest lasting assistant, and with his _years_ of experience working under the woman he had learned to take notice when she put away her magazine before lunch.

“Assistant!” the older woman barked, not turning on the young man, “I’m in need of…” black eyes narrowed on the door to the outer walk and most obvious ‘entrance’ to the Raikage’s tower, “… something to drink.”

The black haired young man just blinked confused at his senior, “Taichou?”

The equally black haired older woman turned and gave him a look with her black eyes, the same look that meant ‘do what I say now, or suffer greatly the might of paperwork!’. The assistant gulped, jumped to his feet and ran off towards the nearest drink machine.

Reki watched him run off with bored eyes; he was a good kid in her opinion, learned quick enough and generally got what she needed without question. She smirked, taking the cigarette out of her mouth and gave a light laugh.

Too bad this lovely moment of relaxation was abruptly ruined as the doors to the Raikage’s tower opened quickly and a blonde blur bolted across the room and landed somewhat ‘on’ the desk clerk.

“What the fu-!” Reki’s wheelie chair was pushed back into the pillar in the center of the kiosk as something iron tight braced itself around her shoulders and something felt like it was rubbing on her. Somewhere in the chaos she lost her cigarette and heard purring.

“Damn, Yugi-chan~!” and somewhere an obnoxiously familiar voice was laughing.

The older jounin cracked open her eyes and spotted a lot of blonde, “The hell?” upon closer inspection, and realizing it was _rubbing_ against her side, she realized it was a rather rough looking Nii Yugito… who was hugging her, and her chair, in a vice grip, “Um… Yugito-san?”

Yep, the Nibi Jinchuuriki was purring… and nuzzle-hugging her in a vice grip.

Currently black eyes turned towards the laughing bull, looking rather bored, “I’m assuming there’s a reason for…” she glanced down at the cat-possessed young woman, “… _this_?”

“No worries Reki-san,” Bee just grinned, moving his hands a bit into his rap, “It’s just been awhile for Yugi-chan~, stuck on the island with just me and Matoi~ got kinda tired stuck with just us Boyz~”

“Uh-huh,” fell flatly from the desk clerk’s mouth. She glanced down at the nuzzling Jinchuuriki, “So is there an off button or something?” she glanced back up at the tan and tattooed Jinchuuriki, “seeing as I have kids, it’s pretty obvious I don’t exactly swing that way…”

Bee had to cover his mouth with both hands to sway the snickering that wanted to let loose at the stricken look on the cat-girl’s face. She still didn’t quite move and Reki just had to groan while rolling her eyes…

… Which spotted Kokuei coming back with refreshments…

… And an evil grin spread wide on the bastard’s face, “Hey, Assistant!”

“H-huh!” dark blue eyes rose and blinked at his boss, only to see the predicament she was in for about a second and blush. Then he noticed the grin on the woman’s face and suddenly shuttered…

“Catch!” and in a second too soon for either the poor assistant or clingy Jinchuuriki to notice, Reki had disentangled herself and tossed Yugito at Kokuei.

There was a muffled scream as cans went flying, before the two crashed to the ground and purring was heard again.

Reki wiped off her hands, turning from the amusement that was her assistant trapped in a vice that was their Nibi container. She casually turned back to Bee, eyes just as bored as they usually were, “So you guys are back?”

Bee’s black mini-goggles just seemed to be staring at the mess that was his student and Reki’s assistant on the floor. Said woman snapped her fingers and the big blonde turned back to her, tiny blonde brows high on his forehead, “Uh, yea, we back,” he glanced back as the two had yet to disengage and started rolling around on the floor, there was some bickering but neither he nor Reki cared to decipher it. The snickering was back, “Nice attack, gotta distract, beat the beast by givin’ it a feast…”

“Eh,” Reki shrugged with a mild grin as she pulled out a cigarette from a carton with a folding fan on it hidden among her files and put it to her lips, “Thought about using a Kawarimi, but, ya know,” she lit her joy, breathing in before leaning back in her chair and sighing out a cloud of smoke with a magnificent grin on her face, “Would’a meant he’d be sitting in my chair,” she patted the arm of said chair, “and I don’t let anyone sit in my chair.”

There was a strange sound as the two on the floor seemed unable to disconnect from one another.

Reki just raised a black brow, turning her attention from the ‘nuzzling’ couple to the large Jinchuuriki, “What’s with the… _hugging_?”

Bee continued to snort, one hand covering his mouth as he turned just enough to let the desk clerk know he was talking to her, “Ya know how there’s two kinds’a cats?” a raised black brow and lone cigarette were his only response, “Wild ones and house cats?” at the continued flat look from the desk clerk the tattooed Jinchuuriki just gave a wide fanged-grin, “Let’s just say, while Nibi-chan may think itself a ‘wild cat’, Yugi-chan ain’t that,” he cut a glance back to the smaller blonde, “She definitely a house cat~”

At the last comment Reki couldn’t help the snicker as she removed her cigarette and breathed out slowly with a low chuckle, “That definitely explains the clinginess…”

There was a light growl and the two not involved turned to see Yugito standing with her head down and looking like a cat with its back arched high while Kokuei looked to have been mauled by a wild animal. Reki replaced her cigarette, covering up the devilish grin she was giving, and Bee had to turn around with a hand over his mouth to not bust out laughing.

The black eyed cat just glared.

Kokuei, after straightening his shirt and re-collecting the cans he’d haphazardly thrown about, slinked back to his side of the kiosk, specifically so that the pillar was between him and the female Jinchuuriki.

Reki didn’t even care about getting her drink at this point, her fun was had. After removing her hand from her cigarette black eyes scanned the piles of folders on her desk, one of these was what she was looking for. After opening two or three she found the specific one, with a swift snap she closed it and looked over at Bee who seemed to have recovered from the sudden laughing fit, “Here,” she held out the bland looking blue folder, “Give this to your brother.”

The large Jinchuuriki grabbed the offered folder with a curious frown on his face, “What is it?” he raised a brow turning the blue folder over, sticking his thumb in the crack and almost flipping the thing open.

That is until Reki smacked his hand with another folder in her hand since she didn’t have the reach, “Ah-ah,” she grinned at the pouting younger man, a black brow was raised enhancing the smirk, “and that’s an excuse to go see your ‘bro’.”

Bee wasn’t the only one to deflate, off to the side Yugito’s shoulders slumped as well, “Aww… straight back to work?”

The grin left Reki’s face, replaced with a curious look, “What were you planning on doing?”

“Uh,” a funny look crossed the younger blonde woman’s face, “Well… hehe,” a hand absentmindedly came up and scratched the younger Jinchuuriki’s cheek, “That’s… ahh… yea… hehe…”

Black brows rose, on both Reki and her assistant, as Kokuei leaned out from behind the pillar to stare at the blonde woman while his boss was just staring flatly with a cigarette sitting between her lips, “That’s… not what I expected for an answer…?” black eye trailed to the larger Jinchuuriki, “Huh.”

When Bee realized the older woman was staring at him he turned towards her and noticed those black eyes behind glasses just go up and down. The man’s dark tanned skinned seemed to take on a few extra hues of red before he jumped and sporadically waved his hands around, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, WHOA!! Hold up sister!!” he pointed at the flatly staring desk clerk, “Ain’t nothin’ like that!! Killer Bee’s a straight gentleman! Ain’t eva taken advantage of no shortie!!” with the continued flat glare from the eldest shinobi in the room, he pouted and crossed his arms, grumbling to himself, “’Sides Yugi-chan’d straight up kick my can…”

The ‘older’ woman snorted with a smirk, eyes not so discreetly trailing to the smaller Jinchuuriki, “Whoever said it’d be you taking advantage of anyone…” It was a lot funnier watching Yugito sputter and turn red then Bee, even Kokuei had to snort as he turned back to his work, hand over mouth to try stemming the need to snicker. Reki merely sat there with a devilish smirk, all too pleased with herself.

Bee just glared, tiny blonde brows low with a pout, “You suck…” the elder desk clerk made a shooing motion with her hand, smirk never leaving the woman’s face. Bee just grumbled as she shuffled towards his brother’s office, grabbing a twitching Yugito and dragging her off.

Reki just watched them go, thin black eyes just trailing them until they left her sight; smirk never once leaving her lips.

“That was mean Taichou,” Kokuei commented over his paperwork.

Black eyes turned back to him, “Quiet Assistant!” the older woman barked causing the young man to fidget. Flat eyes stared over glasses at the back of his little black head as he was sweating bullets, “Where’s my drink?” there was some kind of pathetic man-squeak and Reki’s evil grin was back in place.

\-----

In the Raikage’s office there were only two things that could be heard: counting and vigorous grunting…

“393… 394… 395…” a flat deep voice sighed, “396… 397…”

“Oh, COME ON!!” another, nasilier voice screamed out, “ARE. WE. DONE. YET!!”

A red eye stared at the smaller man, who had his arms crossed and eking ‘pissed-beyond-all-reason’ as he grit his teeth under closed eyes… on the other end of the barbell. Seichi just closed his eyes, mentally counting the ups and downs of the barbell the two of them were doomed to sit on, before opening them and staring down at the man pumping iron, “That’s 400 Raikage-sama, this rep is done…”

There was the sound of a **_VERY_** large crash as the dark skinned oni of a man merely tossed the over-sized barbell. Like most things in the Raikage’s possession it was purely stunning it didn’t bust a hole in the floor, must have been reinforced…

Jimei promptly squealed as he fell off the left side of the several ton barbell while Seichi was just sitting calmly in lotus on the right.

The Raikage simply sat up on the bench and grunted, reaching over to roll his shoulder and completely ignore the two idiots.

“HELL man?!” the platinum blond whined from the floor, “what was that, a truck?! Iwa-nin?! AKAMICHI!!” he was screaming stupidities again, god the blonde Kage just wanted to punch him…

“Jimei,” the low growl of the sandy-red-head was a blessing, as Seichi merely stood up and gracefully stepped off the barbell, landing with barely a sound and giving barely a glance to his partner, “Shut up.” There was a whine as a response but he wasn’t paying attention, the red-eyed Jounin simply walked over to the side of the bench, grabbing the bottle of ‘water’ and towel and handing it to their leader, “That’s 30 so far, anything else you’d wish to do, Raikage-sama?”

Beady black eyes just stared at the man, “Hmp,” there was a pout as he grabbed the towel, putting it on his shoulders and snatching the bottle from him. The knife-wielding jounin merely nodded his head, recognizing he was no longer needed at the moment. The Raikage simply growled to himself, drinking his drink, ignoring the sweat on his back, the _slight_ burn in his muscles or the two arguing in the corner.

It had been almost a year since those two had left; leaving him feeling oddly ‘alone’, not that he’d mention it to anyone. Sure, he’d felt _something_ when his brother went off to train Yugito, but he’d still had Kemui to shadow him like normal then, or Yorihi to help train… what’d he have now? The white woman’s two subordinates trying to do her job and that conniving bastard?

The Raikage grunted, staring at his drink. If he was like this after barely a year, how the hell was he going to make it through four with the dimwit duo and Reki?

“Seichi you cod-off sonvabitch!!” the squeally voice of the short jounin cut through the Raikage’s angst… and against his better judgment he looked over his shoulder to watch them. Jimei was a short man, he looked about fifteen years younger than he actually was, something a lot of Iwa-nin had in common, and was always loud and annoying for no reason. From what he remembered Kemui had picked him up once she had made what she considered an ‘honorary’ title of ‘Jounin’. She had been sixteen or something and only served him over a year and a half when she just walked into R&D and a day later was dragging a disheveled wild man to Kumo’s hospital. There had been a big spectacle, the doctors not knowing what to do with the man since his ‘injuries’ appeared mental instead of physical, and then one of the higher ranking assassins had shown up only to glower and call the Raikage, his father at the time, and he came to defend his obviously demented friend. At that time he had only been a Chuunin with Bee dragging behind as a Genin, so ‘technically’ he couldn’t tell the woman what to do or question her authority in whatever matter, like body-napping an R&D test subject. What he remembered most poignantly from that scene was his father, practically twice Kemui’s size barking, yelling and screaming at her the number of ‘fuck-ups’ she’d just preformed, and all she’d done was said in a quiet voice ‘I won him’. As if to prove the point an R&D representative had shown up a moment later, handing her a piece of paper stating ‘Jimei’ as her property. His father had been pissed, more for looking like an idiot to such a tiny woman, but he’d only smacked the Assassin there witnessing it upside the head, calling the man a moron for not getting his facts straight, and the two had left. Kemui had just stared until they left, then turned to him, just ‘Jin’ at the time and apologized for her reckless behavior.

The tall red-head smacked the older man upside the head, very stern and ridged in his movements catching the blonde Raikage’s attention. Seichi was a different matter, a tall muscular dark skinned man, the only oddity about him being his red hair and eyes, it definitely stuck out in the Land of Lightning, but from what the Raikage knew his ‘family’ was actually older then the village was and indigenous to these mountain areas. So as far as he knew, when the first Raikage decided to build the village here, the ‘Utsurabon’ clan was forcefully ‘added’ to their ninja ranks. He always assumed they ‘fought’ the invaders but lost and were forced into being ninja since they were always such a small clan, even now with only a handful of members. From what he knew of the younger man he had been a promising ANBU member until he approached Kemui for whatever reason she never told him and after beating her ‘dog’ Jimei got trashed by the woman in an instant. Ever since then he had been in charge of Jimei, since he was a well-trained medic-nin and competent fighter it was his responsibility to ‘watch’ the slowly slipping lunatic. This had still been during his Father’s time and part of the younger Raikage wondered if she had been purposely pissing his old man off by taking a member of ANBU as her subordinate. Maybe Seichi had been ordered to kill the woman, maybe he had just attacked her on his own, he didn’t know, Kemui just showed up the next day with two subordinates instead of one.

The Raikage just turned forward, rolling his shoulders, now he understood why she had bothered ‘taking’ subordinates at all. He never noticed them before but whenever Kemui was ‘away’ those two took up the slack her absence left, primarily her counter-intelligence/assassination/spying/whatever the hell she did just by being ‘ **in** ’ the village. The two were her insurance that the village was safer while she was ‘gone’ then when she was there, as the reports he’d been getting from Reki were telling him. ANBU hadn’t found anyone suspicious but occasionally got one or two ‘detainees’ out of nowhere and they were usually people no one would ever suspect. For Ninja they were excellent at infiltration, but compared to Kemui and her apparent ‘students’ they might as well have had giant bull’s-eyes painted on their backs with a sign hanging over them saying ‘I’M A SPY!’, as Jimei quipped one day when he was reading a report from the petulant bastard.

The Raikage had nearly thrown the midget psycho out through a wall when Seichi had simply stabbed him with something and dragged his unconscious body away. A normal person would have found it somewhat funny if it weren’t for the idea that the midget was one dose away from a breakdown and possible massacre and the ‘tall’ one was packing enough drugs to drop all of Iwa’s forces in one fell swoop because of it.

**_THAT_** had been the day the blond Raikage had noticed those two had been around him more often, and he wanted to hit himself because that was six months into being stuck with them...

Back in the present the Raikage just growled, holding his head, annoyed beyond all reason that Kemui left him with a bunch of morons…

“Raikage-same,” the subtle voice of Seichi called over the large man’s shoulder, “Your rest is up if you wish to continue?”

Beady black eyes just stared over his shoulder at the younger man’s red ones, he gave a grunt before turning back away waving his hand, “Add another hundred…”

He could just feel as the sandy-red-head nodded, moving to do as commanded. _He_ wasn’t so bad, the Raikage mused, just quiet and very serious.

“Jimei, another hundred,” beady black eyes glanced over his shoulder as the tall younger man grabbed the short older man by the collar of his vest and dragged him over to the barbell.

“Aww, c’mon Seichi!! I’ve already added like 500kg!!” the short platinum blonde kicked and screamed until he was thrown on top of the barbell, which he latched onto with a grumble, “Jerk!”

Red eyes just glared tightly, “Just do it,” he commanded as he moved to sit on the other side, taking a lotus position and sitting calmly.

Seichi continued to grumble another moment before dragging himself on top of the barbell, performing a handful of seals and tapping the thing, causing the holder to groan under the sudden added weight. The pale faced blonde growled before turning to his comrade and pointing indignantly at him, “If I break something, it’s your fault!!”

A single red eye glared, “Shut up Jimei.”

The argument would have continued if the Raikage hadn’t cracked his knuckles, bringing both jounin’s attention to him and the glare he was leveling the short one’s way. The ‘older’ man simply gulped, looked like an idiot as he laughed nervously and held out a hand as if presenting the barbell to the big man. The large blonde simply glared, taking his position and lifting the oversized and overweight thing.

“1… 2… 3…” came Seichi’s monotone voice as he counted out the lifts.

It was about half way through this rep, somewhere around 267-ish, that the blonde Raikage became suddenly aware of an annoying presence. At first it was like a twitch in the back of his mind that he couldn’t shake, for some reason his mind was equating it to ‘dread’. He pumped out a few more trying to ignore the ominous feeling.

It was as Seichi’s monotonous voice threw out a flat, “300…” that the door to the Raikage’s office got thrown open…

“HEY BRO~!!” a very LOUD and OBNOXIOUS voice yelled out over the slam of wood on wood as the Raikage’s grip on the bar became suddenly tighter, “GUESS WHO’S HOME~!!”

To the Raikage’s credit only his left eye twitched.

There were muffled footsteps in the adjacent room, two voices male and female quipping about the empty desk, sofa, pull-up bar. Jimei leaned over trying to get a better look at the ‘intruders’ from his up-and-down vantage while Seichi just kept counting. The Raikage was going to ignore it for as long as possible.

Killer-Bee cocked his brows as he scratched his goatee, “Hmm, wonder where bro’s at, Reki said he’d be up here and t’go stat~”

“An actual rhyme, Senpai,” Yugito had moved over to their leader’s desk and started riffling through papers and folders. She gave him a Cheshire grin for all of a second, “I’m impressed,” before going about her business.

The larger Jinchuuriki just glared flatly at the smaller woman, putting his hand on his hip, “Pfft… like Sista’d eva say that, pussy-cat~” he gave a wide fanged grin at the glare she sent him for the name.

The finicky woman just snorted at him, looking around the littered desk, it certainly was a strange day indeed that it was covered by books, pamphlets, and various other papery-things she poked at, “Hmm, wonder where aneue or Joshu-san are,” she poked one of folders and thought for a moment it moved on its own, a blonde brow twitched, “Can’t imagine either of them would let this slide…”

There was a grunt that caught both the Jinchuuriki’s attention. Bee and Yugito turned to an open doorway connecting to an adjoining room. They both sneaked to either side and poked their heads around the door to see what was on the other side. To say Yugito was twitching as Bee just walked in with a frown on his face.

“Oi, bro!!” the larger Jinchuuriki gave a puzzled look, his small brows twitching from side to side, “What’cha got goin’ on? Why ain’t Sista’ spottin’ you?” he was pointing between the bored looking Jimei hanging off one side of the barbell and the patiently counting/meditating Seichi, “An’ what’re you up to, foo’?”

Yugito closed her eyes with a twitching brow, “That was terrible…”

The Ushi-oni container just crossed his arms, ignoring the cat.

There was a huge shake as the Raikage tossed the overweight barbell, Jimei made some scream along with mild cursing; Seichi as always didn’t seem fazed. The Raikage on the other hand just sat up and was staring flatly at his brother, causing Yugito to squeak from the door when his sharp eyes spotted her as well. There was a distinct frown on his face, “I see you’re back, report.”

Both Jinchuuriki flinch, Yugito jumping from her spot behind the door to standing next to her senior in proper report mode. Both of them saluted their leader, giving an affirmative “Hai!!” as Bee pushed up his mini-shades, “It’s like dis, bro, I got Yugi-chan hooked yo, finished up wid the island, sho’ got that cat mixin’ ta our flow~”

There was collective brow twitching.

“Not… touching…” Yugito said flatly waving her hand.

One of Jimei’s pierced dark brows was going into overdrive, “Da hell!!” he pointed at the man at least twice his side, “You call that a rap!!” the little man was shaking as his voice was escalating, “that sucked!!”

Yugito had her eyes wide on the ‘little’ man as Bee seemed to zero in on his would-be critic, “What’chu talkin’ ‘bout chibi?”

Jimei seemed to just puff up, stepping closer to this ‘junior’ man, “Biggie pleaz,” he waved his hand, “Callin’ that a rap, boy I can tell ya know thas just whack, slipping in sumin’ you don’t need, sho’, ‘stead of picking what ya please, yo, need ta get the seeds, bro… dig ‘im deep in the flow, not worryin’ ‘bout the game, ‘n grow~”

To say everyone else was stunned was an understatement… who knew the crazy guy could rap?

So it was a bit weird when Killer Bee got down on his knees, _still_ effectively taller than the short man with the pierced eyebrows and platinum blonde hair, “MASTA’!!”

Jimei managed to raise his hand as if to say something important… before being hauled up by Seichi and dragged out of the room, “NOOO….!!” The little man yelled, dangling from the taller jounin’s shoulder, “I’M **_COOL_** FOR ONCE!!”

There was a mumbled growl as the two exited the door, but if anyone asked they were _pretty_ sure the retort was a low, “Shut up, Jimei,” and leave it at that….

The Raikage was rubbing his eyes, thank whatever gods Seichi had enough sense to get the two of them out of here, he didn’t need his brother getting ‘tips’ on how to rap atrociously _MORE_ , “Bee, if I don’t get a report I can _understand_ I’m grabbing by the throat and tossing you out that window,” he pointed behind the two Jinchuuriki not bothering to look up.

There was a distinct gulp, but from who was anyone’s guess.

“Aight, to make it simple bro,” the normally so jovial and rap-tastic jounin stood up straight, a frown on his face as he looked at his brother seriously, “It’s like this, took Yugito to the island and had her go through the Jinchuuriki trials, she passed ‘em  to say the least, now she has full control of that cat,” he scratched the side of his face, “Though considering how fast she did it I get the feelin’ that cat wasn’t bein’ as ‘against’ her in control as it was before…” pause, “yo.”

The Raikage’s sharp beady eyes glared at him for that one little ‘slip’ but otherwise didn’t maim the man, that was good enough for now, “I’ll want a detailed report, but if that’s basically it-”

“Question, bro?” the larger Jinchuuriki had his arms crossed with one finger raised, “Where is Sista’?” the look the Raikage’s face seemed to darken a bit, “I get those two were her lackeys, I remember them, but what the hell _they_ doin’ here helping you blow off steam when it’d be safer having her spot you,” he scratched the side of his jaw, “I can’t see either of them being able to catch that thing if you overdid it…”

Neither of them probably noticed by behind the Ushi-Oni container Yugito was staring with her mouth slightly wide. – _Aneue could…_ \- her black iron eyes traveled to the monstrosity that was the Raikage’s barbell, _hear_ the floor groaning under its continued weight, then remembered the size of Kemui compared to the Raikage and her left eye couldn’t help but twitch. – _She could pick **THAT** up?!_ -

Back to the large men, the one sitting grumbled, “She’s on a mission.”

There was a distinct ‘non-believing’ frown on Bee’s face, “Uh-huh,” the man looked around, nothing ever really changed in the Raikage’s exercise room, but he recalled the desk in the other, “How long she been gone?”

The man’s beady eyes tried to stay on his annoying brother but shifted just the slightest away, “Over a year,” he mumbled, but with the sudden gasps from his brother and Yugito it was obvious it was a ‘serious’ matter. His brows furrowed, “it’s a long-term mission, supposed to be four years or so…”

“FOUR _YEARS_!!” Bee couldn’t help but yell, “Damn! Who the hell would require such a mission, an’ ain’t Sista’s specialty just get-in-get-out an’ killin’ the guy?” he made a gesture of slitting ones throat as he spoke.

The Raikage just glared, something hard and quite pissed off, “Who do you think?”

There was an unconscious shutter from the larger Jinchuuriki, “Oh…” another shutter, “The hell they want?”

The large Oni of a man that lead them just glared flatly, “Need to know,” he held out his hand, “Know I know Reki sent you up here with something for me…”

A scowl passed the ‘junior’ man’s face as he pulled out the folder the desk clerk had given him, “What’s this about?”

“Need to know,” the man gave a smirk as his brother growled, flipping open the folder and skimming it for relevant information, it wasn’t much, but it was obvious the black haired woman was definitely _looking_ for something specific, that final nail that would show them exactly who they might be dealing with. He gave a sigh; these two didn’t need to worry about it just yet, “Bee.”

“Yea, Bro?” the man looked more miffed than normal, just knowing his brother was holding out on him and wondering why.

Beady black eyes stared, “There’s a stack of folders on my desk,” there was a grunt that sounded distinctly like ‘yea, didn’t notice’,  causing the large man to growl, “They’re of academy grads in a month, I want you to pick a team and train them-”

“WHAT!!” was the indignant response causing the other two to flinch at the sudden loud noise.

The large blonde growled, rubbing one of his ears, “Would you let me finish!!” the glare was enough to tone down the Jinchuuriki’s seething, “Bee, you’ve already proven apt at training others,” he nodded to the small blonde woman that was practically forgotten throughout the brothers’ conversation, “I want you to keep that up, giving us more adept troops, understand?” there was a ‘hidden’ meaning behind the Raikage’s desire to have his brother train a genin team, it would mean he would be forced to stay closer to the village, well within his reach and protection.

By the look on the ‘younger’ brother’s face, the Raikage wondered if he understood _that_ was his real intention, “Tch,” Bee turned, arms crossed over his chest, “Fine…” he nodded his head towards his brother, “Yori-chan better be in that stack,” He gave a wide fanged grin.

The ‘elder’ brother could only sigh, running a hand over his face, he had hoped to avoid _that_ topic, “She’s not here.” He said flatly between his fingers.

“Say what?!” the Raikage wasn’t sure which of the screamed that, probably both, but when he looked up with his beady black eyes both of them looked stunned, hurt, and angry.

The large man on the bench just sighed, _really_ wishing he could have avoided this topic, “When I sent Kemui on her mission, I sent Yorihi with her,” he lowered his hand, giving them both a stern glare to not interrupt, it was hard enough just telling them, “I don’t know where she is but I have her word she is safe and being trained, as we speak,” the village leader’s shoulders slumped as he looked down. He trusted his assassin; the woman hadn’t let him down yet, so all he could do was wait. Why the hell did that make him feel like somebody’s wife…

He could tell both Yugito and Bee wanted to say something, both opening their mouths but failing to release any words. He didn’t bother to look up, not wanting to look at their stunned or confused looks, not wanting to be reminded that he was just as worried as they were, that he actually _missed_ his ‘not’-daughter… and that damn woman.

But he trusted her… it only meant he had three more years until his trust was proven right or wrong.

“Uh-um…” both large men turned to the previously quiet woman, “Wh… when are they supposed to come back?” this was **_not_** what Yugito had been hoping for when they came back. Both her and Bee had been eager to get back, to help train _their_ ‘niece’, as ever since her mastering control over Matatabi, the cat had gone at length explaining several aspects of its and her past. Things she had only questioned after their ‘sudden’ survival and garnered no answers… now she had them, at least one side of them, and it had made her antsy about coming back and finding out the rest… about confronting that woman she now called ‘Aneue’.

“Three years,” the Raikage said lowly, giving a grunt as he stood up, towering over the smaller woman and just a bit over his brother, “give or take a few months, that should be when Kemui’s time-table is finished, assuming she doesn’t accelerate it or nothing happens, and then Yorihi’s training will be done with and she’ll be retrieved…” the large Oni of a man brushed past the two, stomping away with his heavy boots into his ‘office’.

Both Jinchuuriki frowned, giving each other a look before following their leader.

Before either of them could speak the man was at his desk shifting around for something, “Yugito?”

“Y-yes, Raikage-sama?” the smaller woman spooked, not sure why he would be addressing her directly.

The large man pulled out a folder, apparently the one he had been looking for as he turned to the smaller Jinchuuriki, “I have a different assignment for you,” he held out the thing expecting her to take it, “While Bee is training a new team; I’ll need you working covert missions-”

“Aw, man!” of course Bee immediately complained, “How come Yugi-chan gets all the fun?”

Beady black eyes were automatically glaring at the larger Jinchuuriki, “Because you have about as much stealth as a bull in a china shop,” the rapper raised his hand as if to defend himself but already the Raikage was ignoring him, turned on the smaller woman and looking down at her with stern eyes, “I trust that ‘cat’ inside you has taught you a thing or two about stealth?”

The smaller blonde gulped, taking the folder finally from the large imposing man, “Y-yes, Mat-” she shook her head remembering the Bijuu’s name wasn’t exactly something to be thrown around casually, “T-the Nibi **_is_** a cat, sir,” there was a bit of smirk pulling at her lips as she looked back up at the stern man, “I don’t think she would be very happy if her ‘container’ couldn’t _at least_ pass her standards of ‘stealth’…”

“Hmp,” the large man grunted, “Take that over to R&D, they owe me some reports, then report to Reki, she will have your missions for you, otherwise speak to the Commander at T&I,” he waved his hand, “Dismissed,” turning back to his cluttered desk and scowling brother.

Yugito could only blink at the quick dismissal, already the brothers were getting in a heated argument over the fact that Bee wasn’t particularly interested in ‘training’ some ‘punk genin’ and his brother, _The Raikage_ , was having none of that. She looked at the folder in her hand, curious what it was but knowing better then to peak, _especially_ if it was something for R &D…

When she looked up the Raikage had Bee in a full-nelson and she decided it was probably best she leave them to their ‘business’… else she get caught up in their ‘argument’. As she slipped out the door the Nibi-container couldn’t help but hear a struggling man-scream as it sounded like the desk was just smashed to pieces.

There was a heavy sigh in front of her, “Not again…” Looking up Yugito spotted Joshu… with a semi-large stack of papers and a frown under his shades, “That’s the third desk this month…”

The blonde could only sweatdrop at the man’s exasperation, give an embarrassed chuckle and slip around him… she had ‘work’ to do after all.

\-----

“Ugh… today is so _boring_ ,” a moderately sized man complained, leaning back in his flexible chair and having his boots spread wide on the console in front of him. Kimyou wasn’t what anyone thought of when they heard the term ‘R&D scientist’, the man was built better than any jounin which he barely contained in his standard white lab coat over his flak-vest and black uniform. He was of moderate height, moderately dark skin-tone, and looked moderately bored all the time. His only real ‘distinguishing’ features, other than muscles that looked about to rip his lab coat to pieces if he so much as flexed too hard, was a vertical scar on the outward side of his right eye, and a long string of hair that stuck out in his face that for whatever reason didn’t stay with the rest of his dark-chocolate colored hair he had pulled back in a rough ponytail. What he was currently _doing_ , that was so boring that he leaned back in his chair with both hands behind his head and boots on the console, was ‘watching’ a large screen, seemingly of a ‘first-person’ view of the inside of a room…

“Quit complaining,” a woman ‘next’ to the man, on the other side of the console, stated as she was turned to a smaller screen. Yue, as ‘leader’ of the ‘observation’ team assigned to one of Section S’s latest projects, was charged with filtering through the video feed they already _had_ and editing/transcribing as necessary before they completely deleted the information, as per the _subject’s_ request. She was a relatively ‘average’ looking scientist, being all but covered in her standard R &D white lab coat, even if it was opened revealing her ‘corset’-styled flak vest that left her voluminous cleavage rather open and obvious, mixed with the short black business-looking skirt and one would be hard pressed to think she was ever an ANBU-level konoichi, but pretty much _anyone_ in R &D was that high or just crazy enough to qualify for working there. She had a pen flipping around in one hand as she tilted her head, long pale-cream colored hair up in a bun to keep it out of the way and add to the ‘look’ she was so used to using from her ‘seduction’ mission days. The woman kept flipping a switch back and forth with manicured nails, rewinding and fast-forwarding a scene from a while ago their ‘charge’ had taken…

Kimyou, still bored with what he was _supposed_ to be watching, leaned further back in his chair, over the woman’s shoulder and tried to see what she was ‘editing’. When he saw black hair and lots of ‘skin’, he made a completely undignified sound and nearly fell out of his chair, “YOU’RE WATCHING **_THAT_** AGAIN?!”

“Hmm?” the woman with her sly light eyes glanced at him over her shoulder, “You say something?” ‘unfortunately’ the woman’s move caused more of the ‘screen’ she was looking at to be viewable… there was pale skin, **_LOTS_** of it, with certain discolorations that cause the man’s cheeks to turn red.

“T-turn that off!!” the male scientist waved his hands around, glaring his dark brown eyes at the woman, “What’s **_wrong_** with you?! That’s private!!” the red on his face increased when the woman ‘accidently’ hit a switch that turned the volume on…

_“…N-no… J-Jin… n-not… h-he-OOH!!”_

The male scientist choked on his own saliva while the woman was just grinning like the devil.

“Oh, I’m sorry, did I hit the volume,” she clicked the button, ‘accidentally’ increasing it as the woman on screen moaned loudly and the man she was with gave a dastardly laugh, “ _OOPS!_ I’m _sooooo_ sorry, that was the wrong way~” she flipped the switch again, this time _actually_ turning it off, the devil’s smile never leaving her face.

Kimyou was red, one hand holding his nose and the other his pants, “Fucking, evil, perverted bitch!!”

“Meh,” Yue just waved her hand, she’d heard worse in her career and they both knew that.

The man’s thick dark brows twitched as he glared at her, still holding his nose and pants, “The fuck is your problem?” he glanced at the screen again, seeing mostly an _Uchiha’s_ chest or neck with occasional flashes to something in the distance over his shoulder, “Tch, course, typical woman…” the man growled, “fawning over one of those pretty-boys…”

“Please,” the woman nearly shouted indignantly, “I could live without _ever_ seeing another one of those pale bastards,” a vicious smirk crossed the woman’s face that Kimyou couldn’t see from his vantage, but he could _definitely_ hear it in her voice, “I’m more interest in a ‘different’ pale skin in this shot…”

Dark eyes rolled, “Lesbian…”

A pen shot through the air at _dangerous_ speeds that if the man hadn’t dodged could have _easily_ gone through his skull. When he looked back the scantily clad researcher was turned towards him, legs and arms crossed as she glared at him almost bored while revealing the entirety of the screen she had been watching, “For your information, _straight-man_ ,” her pale cream brows inclined to add emphasis, “I was counting how many ANBU she was pointing out during this section…” she turned back half way, kicking her legs as she huffed exposing more of her chest and glancing at the screen with her light eyes, “not **_just_** admiring the woman’s tone skin or hand-held breasts,” the added hand gestures and perverted smirk were _not_ helping her cause.

Those dark eyes just stared flatter, “Lesbian,” he dodged another pen, simply scooting to the side, eyes still flat as he moved to ‘examine’ the footage as well, “What’s this you’re talking about, ‘ANBU’ she’s spotting?” he watched a few seconds, seriously not in the mood to see another man, _especially_ an Uchiha… he’d send the woman a card when she got back, talk about taking one for the team, “I’m not getting anything but that di-” He cut himself off by putting his hand over his mouth as the ‘camera’ panned ‘down’… he didn’t need to see that… **_EVER!!_** He closed his eyes, rubbing vigorously, “Brain bleach, where is it!?!”

The woman in front of him snorted, “It’s _just_ a bit of cock, get over yourself…” a smirk, “ _straight-man_.”

The male scientist lowered his hand just enough to give the woman a one-eyed glare, “Thought you _admiring_ the ‘other’ view…”

There was a half-hearted shrug as the woman was solely watching the screen, “I’m bi, thank you for asking, I can appreciate any form of human anatomy,” her head tilted at an odd angle as the ‘screen’ panned down again, garnering more of the ‘woman’s’ visage then the man’s, “Though I do have to admit… of all the ‘bodies’ I’ve studied, the most satisfying are those from our own village,” a _much_ more lecherous smirk picked at the woman’s lips, “It must be the atmosphere,” if Kimyou were paying _any_ attention where the woman’s eyes were he would have seen them give a quick run over his own physique before hopping back to the screen, noticing a shift in vantage, garnering a smirk of a different kind as the woman paused the frame, “Ah! See that!” she pointed at a spec in a tree from when the woman was looking over her ‘lover’s’ shoulder, “ANBU!”

The man leaned down, squinting at the screen, it was hard to see with the pixilation and distortion but it _definitely_ looked like ‘something’ was in the tree what wasn’t ‘natural’, “Well, I’ll be damned…” he leaned back, crossing his arms, unknowingly tightening his lab coat on his arms and causing Yue to inwardly squeal, “She was spotting her spotters during **_sex_**?!” his head tilted, “The more we watch this woman the more impressed I am at her mental functions…”

“No kidding,” the lecherous woman smirked as she hit ‘play’ again, “I’ve counted at least five so far, that’s a normal squad size, and while I’d like to  think they were _trying_ to actually hide, I’m more convinced she did this,” she waved as the sex became more apparent on the screen, “As more of a ‘show’ for _them_ , the addition of having this ‘Uchiha Jin’ fall more idiotically in love with her persona and providing her the ‘perfect’ **_in_** with their clan was just a bonus…” there was a deep loving sigh as the woman set her breasts on the desk and almost moaned, “such a mind, I would have **_loved_** to been assigned a team with her… my missions would have been far simpler…”

The bulky scientist frowned, standing straighter, “But there is a distinct _difference_ between what she’s doing and your flimsy ‘seduction’ missions,” he waved at the screen, ignoring the woman’s glare, “No Konoichi in their right mind would allow such a thing,” his arm absently pointed to the large ‘live’ screen, “all just for an ‘ ** _in_** ’,” there was obvious anger in the man’s voice as his thick brows were furrowed and the two turned to the ‘live’ screen. On it was a _far_ different story from the one they were just watching, which had been an ‘incident’ _months_ ago, about four to five months into the mission…

Now it was over a year, and the woman on the screen, who was brushing her long white hair in a full-length mirror thus allowing them a ‘look’ at her physical appearance, was _heavily_ pregnant… by their estimates, if the previous ‘incident’ was the origin, the woman had a month at most until she popped…

“What Konoichi would disgrace herself to carry an enemy’s child?” the man was furious, more so because over the course of ‘watching’ the woman he had actually gained a level of respect for her ability to slip in and out of places unnoticed. Now this…

By contrast, Yue had a ‘sad’ look on her face looking at the screen. What Kimyou said _was_ valid, seduction missions were ‘typically’ short-term and only as a means of assassinations. She’d never heard of the ‘last’ actual Assassin Kumo had ever taking such missions, as with her training and ability, as she learned from working in R &D, it was entirely unnecessary, but after watching the woman she started to understand why, “You can’t argue with results,” her voice was lower than normal and it was that small difference that had the man looking at her, “in this past year she’s managed to eliminate ten of her targets without **_any_** suspicion put on her, two _while_ pregnant, effectively making her **_not_** a suspect.” A tight frown formed on the woman’s lips as she stared at her coworker, like him she learned to respect the woman through their observation as the only thing she knew about her ‘previously’ was a page long report that was mostly blacked out, “You’re right, any ‘self-respecting’ **_Konoichi_** would never do as she has, marry into and conceive within her target’s clan,” she turned towards the screen with a stern look, folding her arms under her heavy chest, “And it is for that very reason, she would have been caught and killed by now…”

The frown spread on the man’s face, his fists tightening but his eyes seemed to soften, “They really do think differently than us, huh?”

The woman just sighed deeply, closing her eyes, “From what little information I could dig up on _her_ clan, and from what I can remember from working with them, yes,” her eyes opened as she watched the woman finish her routine, making a signal into the mirror they had come to recognize as ‘all clear’ even if it only looked like she was rubbing a white brow, “Yes, they think on a completely different level then ‘we’, Shinobi, do…” the scientist’s pale brows furrowed upward giving her a worried look, “I remember one saying, in a rather condescending voice, ‘we think nothing, seek nothing, are nothing,’ when I asked why they ‘degraded’ themselves to the kind of work they did… now I understand better watching through her eyes…”

“Hmp,” Kimyou was still frowning, but this time looking away scratching the side of his head and running a finger along his scar, “ ** _anything_** for the mission, huh?”

Light eyes trailed to the man, “You have to admit, using the tactics she’s employing on _them_ , she could just as easily fool all of **_us_**.”

The frown deepened on his face as he released some kind of growl, childishly crossing his arms, straining the seams on his lab coat, “Can’t argue with results,” a thick manly brow twitched, “I _know!_ ”

The woman smirked, leaning on one hand and glancing at him over manicured nails, “So long as you _know_ ~” she watched him squirm a minute before turning her eyes back to the screen, the woman seeing her ‘husband’ off, zeroing in on the Uchiha crest on the back of his uniform, “when you really think about it, her tactic _is_ the most effective way of getting ‘in’ the clan without suspicion, and no shinobi-clan, no matter how paranoid or pompous would say ‘no’ to a woman carrying their blood…” her head shifted to the side, watching as the woman seemed to exit her ‘home’, going on a daily walk she always did, really just a routine to allow the ANBU to ‘see’ her and gain as much information as possible and appear ‘normal’, “add to that, no one would suspect a _pregnant_ woman either as an assassin… it just goes against human nature to suspect such a thing…”

There was a distinct sigh next to the seated woman, a bit of a growl at the end of it, “ _Still_ …” he was scratching his head again, “I just don’t like it…”

“Hah!” the sudden laugh caused the man to jump and look at his co-worker, “Kemui-san, one, Kimyou, zero,” the woman turned with a smirk at him, “Just more proof the woman is truly a master at her craft~”

The man was still giving a frowning-pout as he looked down at the woman, just glaring with nothing really left to say…

“Ah-um?”

Both scientists turned in tandem to look at what made the sound… it was a young blonde woman with her hair in twin-tails and black eyes stuck on the large screen behind them, the folder in her hand at her side almost falling as her eyes were going wide.

Two sets of brows rose, one on the seated buxom woman and the other on the standing buff-out man. Both shared a look, glanced at the interloper then turned to see the screen she was staring at, neither of them caring that it appeared as if the ‘ _heavily_ ’ pregnant woman had just made it to an intersection and paused to take a rest, a blonde boy with whisker marks on his cheeks finding her and apparently jumping up and down speaking excitedly and animatedly to the woman, too bad they had the volume off and couldn’t hear him.

“I-is that-” she didn’t remember pointing at the screen as all she could do was stare, watching those familiar pale hands move and entertain the excitable boy as he smiled at the ‘screen’. She had entered the room she was instructed to go to some time ago, entering when the man first commented about his co-worker’s orientation and the following debate. It was when the mentioned ‘Kemui-san’ by name that she finally realized that the white haired woman she had been staring at on the screen, the one with the long white hair **_down_** and not ‘up’ in all her braids, and quite _obviously_ pregnant was-was… “A-Aneue?”

Brows rose higher on the scientists, again sharing a look, though this time Yue decided to turn on the ‘younger’ woman with a frown, “This is a ‘restricted’ area, blondie,” the condescending tone of her voice was enough to snap Yugito out of her daze and finally ‘look’ at the scientists and not the screen. Yue was **_not_** amused, “I trust there’s a **_reason_** you’ve just waltzed in here looking all over top-secret-you-will-be-killed-if-you-speak-of-this equipment and an on-going mission?”

Yugito gulped, looking between the two, suddenly feeling an extreme drain as everything seemed to be circling in on her. She needed to get out of this place, needed to think about what she just _saw_ … she shook her head – _‘Mission’ first, freak out later_ \- taking a deep breath she approached the scientists, holding the folder out, “T-the Raikage sent me to give you this, r-requesting an update on…” her voice trailed off as her black eyes wondered to the screen again, something tugging at the edges of them.

The female scientist, Yue, didn’t give one bit of a damn what the girl’s problem was, she grabbed the folder, flipped it open and quickly scanned the forms inside. It was just another status update request, the woman snorted uncouthly as she turned around, whipping out a pen and signed the bottom, snapping it closed and turning back to the woman, “The Raikage is going to have to wait, and he _knows_ this, as the information, as per the subject’s own request, must be transcribed to a ‘non-personal’ format before it can even be reviewed, and discovering just _what_ exactly **_that_** woman meant to be ‘purposeful’ or not is hard to determine,” another ruffled snort as she glanced at all the back log, “I swear, even a T &I mind-reader would have a hard time deciphering these glances, he **_knows_** not to expect it so quickly…”

Yugito just seemed to shutter, giving an awkward nod as she took back the folder, giving an awkward glance back to the screen.

A thick manly brow furrowed as Kimyou looked the young woman over, “Is there something _else_ you need?” the woman’s spooked black eyes jumped to him when he spoke, causing one of his brows to rise, “You keep staring at the screen,” he said flatly, just eyeing the blonde.

Yugito swallowed hard, looking to the screen one final time, staring _through_ her sister’s eye at the small boy about Yorihi’s age just grinning at her, unable to _not_ notice the rather large swell of her stomach, “I-I just can’t believe it…” her hand tightened unconsciously in front of her chest, “This is An-Kemui-san’s mission?”

The scientists shared a sharp look before both glared at the intruder, this time it was Kimyou who spoke as he stepped in front of the smaller woman blocking her view, “I suggest you leave.” Black iron eyes turned on the man, suddenly the ‘shock’ was gone and they were hard, as if _he_ was the one in the way and should move. Kimyou may have been a scientist and working for R &D now, but he was once an ANBU just like most of the other psychos that ran experiments in this place, he wasn’t ‘The Butcher’ for nothing and this _little_ girl wasn’t going to scare him.

He was lucky Yugito simply turned around, movements tight as she stomped towards the door, nearly ripping it off its hinges in her haste to leave.

There was a deep sigh that filled the room as soon as the doors closed, neither realizing it was both of them.

“You’re lucky, ‘Butcher’,” Yue’s voice caught his attention, she only spoke _that_ name when he was seconds away from losing his head, “I think we both just met our ‘second’ Jinchuuriki…”

“Hmp,” the man scoffed, turning around back to the screen, “You sound almost worried, ‘Body-Snatcher’,” he could feel the woman’s light eyes harden on him, as she too turned with him to continue their ‘work’.

“I never liked that name,” she said dismissively, adjusting her lab coat, “Made it sound like my art was nothing but a mongrel monstrosity…”

A sick grin crossed the man’s face, “That’s what I thought too,” a dark laugh left his throat, “Suppose that’s why they have us working together…” his eyes traveled to her busty form, “The ‘Body-Art-Collectors’ I believe they called us back in the day?”

“Tch,” the woman dramatically rolled her eyes, turning back to her ‘editing’, “Like any of those bastards had any idea what ‘Art’ is…” she hit play, watching the scene from months ago continue, a hand coming up an pointed at the screen, “Now _that_ body would have truly been worthy my time!!” she sounded indignant, pausing a screen that had a sizable amount of the white assassin’s flesh on it.

The man behind her only chuckled, “Guess that’s why they need our highly trained ‘eyes’ to spot what they can’t see…”

“Hmp,” the woman threw over her shoulder, “They just figured this would distract us…”

“And it isn’t?” that wicked grin turned on the woman leaned over her desk.

“Yes,” there was that _heady_ sigh, “I suppose it is…”

The shared a dark laugh, for once ‘enjoying’ their work, and admiring their ‘subject’ as she did hers…

\-----

Aneue- older sister (also used like Aniki for female seniors in yakuza/gangs)

1kg = about 2.2lbs, 500kg = 0.5 metric tons = 1102.31lbs

Kimyou – strange, queer, curious

Yue – reason, cause, circumstances

\-----


	7. Blindly Following Others

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uchiha Itachi, you have a new mission...

_“I’m telling you, something isn’t right…_ ” a gravelly harsh voice boomed through the door.

_“Sit down!_ ” a loud, if oddly not _as_ harsh voice spoke chidingly, “ _What you are saying makes_ **no** _sense-”_

“ _Only because you don’t **want** to see the obvious,_ ” a growl from the harsher voice, “ _like always…_ ”

A brief pause as killing intent thickened, if it weren’t for the door such a ‘small’ amount from these two powerful men would have easily overpowered the Chuunin guards, not to mention the ANBU contingent that was always posted outside, “ _Are you saying I’m blind and willfully putting this village at risk?”_

The pressure lessened, somewhat, “ _What I’m saying is you are a fool, not seeing what is right in front of you…”_

“ _What?”_ the ‘kinder’ voice spoke accusingly, “ _what ‘evidence’ do you have that isn’t just your own speculation and screaming with xenophobia-”_

“ _At least I don’t let my **need** to please everyone destroy everything around me!_ ” there was a loud slam, “ _Since that woman showed up over a dozen Uchiha have gone missing-”_

_“MIA_ ,” the ‘other’ voice grumbled back, “ _all of them were confirmed **leaving** the village… just never making it to their missions, assumed killed on route, defected, or deserted…”_

“ _And you call me the ‘racist’-”_

_“I **didn’t** say ‘RACIST’-”_

_“Hmph,”_ the tensions rose and could be easily felt through the door despite any of the ‘seals’, “ _At least I’m willing to see the common thread-”_

“ _The woman is PREGNANT!”_ the ‘gentler’ voice slammed on the desk, if anyone were to guess that was listening in he’d stood up angry at his ‘colleague’s’ insinuation, “ _She fled a destroyed home, family all slaughter, assets either destroyed or taken from her father’s business partner, a man that couldn’t give a damn if she were alive or dead!”_

_“A deeply fabricated story,”_ the ‘harsher’ voice flippantly shook off, “ _I don’t know how she did, it’s very good and_ seems _real… I’d rather have her captured and all her training pulled from her mind-”_

_“So you can WHAT?!”_ there was deep accusing in that voice, “ _brainwash the woman to work for you, strip her of everything she is to become one of your blank soldiers… erase an innocent woman to appease your paranoia!”_ there was no immediate response, the accusation was blatant truth and they both knew it even if they had agreed to never speak of it. By all rights _Ne_ did not exist, but both men weren’t stupid, “ _If I didn’t know any better I would say you were using this woman as a scapegoat to hid your own actions-”_

_“How **DARE** you accus-”_

_“Be silent.”_ The pressure in the room lessened but any experienced shinobi could easily tell it had not disappeared. Sarutobi Hiruzen was the ‘God of Shinobi’, having used the Sarutobi clan’s innate ability to mimic others techniques to learn every technique in the village and ones he had seen in battle, many people forgot just what the man was capable of, how much he was feared with how ‘gentle’ he had become in his old age.

Shimura Danzo did not. He had stood by the man, been his friend, rival, and now shadow since they were young. He had hated him for taking the hat, hated him for ignoring his warnings and calling his tactics ‘wrong’… but if there was **_one_** thing he knew about his former teammate it was ‘ ** _don’t piss him off!_** ’ he had _seen_ the grandfatherly Hokage of Konoha destroy wave after wave of enemy ninja, watched as he personally burned a developing village to the ground, seen him slaughter thousands in war… the ‘God of Shinobi’ was not a man to fuck with…

Although right now, it was _that_ man Danzo wished he was arguing with… not the ‘Grandfatherly Hokage’ who felt more guilt in accusing an innocent then caring about what the obvious ‘spy’ was probably doing. It wasn’t so much for ‘Konoha’s’ sake he was worried about the woman, it was that she was fucking up his plans, either working with the Uchiha and ‘helping’ them escape in case their coup went wrong, or for another village and stealing the precious bloodline. True, her methods seemed half-assed and backwards, in fact if it wasn’t for this gut feeling of his he’d say she was exactly what his once-friend said she was, innocent, but something about the woman was off. She was _too_ good at blending in, _too_ good at being ‘friendly’ and ‘normal’, she passed every test, even a mindsweep from the head Yamanaka and was horrified by the young Morino… but something was just… _off_ about her… “Hiru…”

“Do not address me as such,” the glaring old monkey walked around his desk frowning at the man in front of him.

Danzo’s flat lips became tighter as he watched the man, “within the first week she made contact with the Jinchuuriki…”

“Naruto…” the old man said bitterly as he moved to face the windows.

Danzo didn’t even seem fazed, “Less than a month she comes into contact with many prominent Jounin and clan heads…”

“She worked at a bar, both as a hostess and helped with deliveries as she had experience from working trade,” there was a frown on the man’s face, “As Saito reported, her father’s business partner had completely cut her off, the woman was luckily smart enough to keep her own accounts separate from the family ones but she still needed an income-”

“And she just _happens_ to choose to work for a Shinobi bar?” those flat black eyes were glaring into the Hokage’s back, wishing the man would just _see_ the number of coincidences was uncanny…

At this the Hokage actually turned to level a slight glare at the man, knowing he was just trying add up as much as possible, “I believe it was one of _your_ ANBU that reported her conversation with the minstrel Meshii Fuwa-”

“-Hyuuga Hizashi-”

“Meshii. **Fuwa.** ” The glared tightened, “By all rights that man is _dead_ , as was his own wish.”

“Then we should just kill him and prevent such loose ends,” Danzo was completely serious, while the blind-‘minstrel’ was good at keeping the village informed, they had spies for that, they didn’t need someone so obviously unstable out in the field. Who knew who the man spoke to out there, what information he was leaking to get what he gained…

The Hokage’s eyes were flat; it was moments like this he wondered what the hell happened to the man he once knew. It seemed impossible for him to even trust someone _within_ their village, no wonder he jumped on the bandwagon to attack the ‘foreign’ woman, “It’s because of people like you she would take such an ‘open’ job, wanting to be out there and show all the skeptics she was no harm-”

“She could have easily poisoned their drinks,” automatically came out of the darker man’s mouth.

Brown eyes narrowed, “and no one from that bar died, in fact if I remember correctly many of the Shinobi that visited garnered quite a positive view of the woman due to her service,” he turned to look out the window, tired of glaring at a man he once trusted, “As for the clan heads, many of them either frequented the establishment or she was one of three employees that made deliveries, as many of the others were _frightened_ of the people that protected them…”

“The Aburame, Aoiyama, and Kurama have horrifying techniques,” the old man spoke in a low neutral voice, neither approving nor disapproving, “they should be feared…”

In an instant the ‘God of Shinobi’ was glaring right into Danzo’s eyes, “No one should be ostracized in their own home!” wizen brows lowered as genuine anger showed in the man’s eyes, “especially not those who’ve done nothing but serve in any way they can!” it was obvious the man wasn’t _just_ talking about the shinobi clans, but the foreign woman as well.

Against all his wishes, Danzo was the first to look away.

The Hokage took a step back, face pursed and glaring flatly, “Next you are going to tell me she was spying on the Hyuuga…”

“How do you know she’s not?” Danzo kept his voice low; he was treading on uneasy ground. Ever since the ‘deaths’ of the Hyuuga lord’s family, his wife, daughter, ‘brother’, and second wife the man had become something completely different than what he was. Most expected him to become a tyrant after so many close deaths, and at first that had been the case, but after the disappearance of his first daughter, the ‘death’ of his brother he seemed to start going back to his old ways. It was with the birth of his second daughter and adopting his nephew as his son after the boy’s mother committed suicide that he became something no one expected... Hyuuga Hiashi was ‘nice’. The man had suffered so much that instead of going the way everyone predicted he went the complete opposite, to the point Danzo had blood drawn from him without the his notice just to make sure he hadn’t been replaced by some doppelganger. No, Hyuuga Hiashi was ‘nice’, becoming more lenient to the branch family, allowing them and his new ‘son’ to learn the more advanced forms as he didn’t want to ‘lose anyone else’ so he claimed and even left the premises and ‘mingled’ with people, including a foreign woman, from Rai no Kuni no less… even inviting the woman to help care for his young daughter when he learned she was with child, not caring in the least that it was an ‘Uchiha’s’ child, their rival clan, so she could ‘learn’ some things.

In Danzo’s opinion, Hyuuga Hiashi had gone insane, but without further proof the man was a danger in his ‘enlightened’ state to the Village there was no reason to kill him… for now.

Hiruzen sighed deeply, rubbing across his eyes, tired of how dealing with this man felt more exhausting then a war, “Danzo, do you have any children?”

There was a shift in the man’s eyes but with the Hokage wiping the exhaustion out of his own he completely missed it. The answer was short and simple, a deep, flat, “No.”

Another exhausted exhale, “Then you have no idea what it is like being a first time parent,” lowering his hand the Hokage took a deep breath, “When Kechi was born, I would have given anything to have someone tell me beforehand what I was getting myself into,” he looked amused for a moment, remembering the chaos that was his first son before turning back to the stern face that was his once-friend, “And don’t think this woman is the only one to gain from Hiashi’s more generous mood, remember he paid Anko’s tab at the dango shop and she hasn’t stopped following him around since…”

There was a _slight_ twitch in Danzo’s eye but he would completely deny it, “I’m not saying anything about the man’s sudden _insanity_ ,” this was actually more from the idea that he had paid for that snake woman’s tab without first looking at the bill then handing out parenting advice to the booze-delivery woman, “Just that **_that_** woman may be taking advantage of it to spy on the Hyuuga like she has obviously done with the Uchiha!!” the man slammed his palm flat on the Hokage’s desk, frustrated that the man that led them was so blind he couldn’t see the ‘obvious’ in front of him. It was as if the man spent so long looking ‘underneath the underneath’ that he couldn’t see what was right there out in the open!

The Hokage’s eyes became flat, whatever joviality he had gained thinking about his children and the new beneficent Hyuuga Lord, who made council meetings a breeze, were gone as the reality of this conversation came back like kunai to the face, “She married into the Uchiha-”

“After specifically seducing one,” black eyes narrowed.

The Hokage frowned, shaking his head, “That woman had come here a number of times before, there are records,” he tapped a stack of papers, not that the records were specifically _there_ just to emphasize the point, “she’d done everything, by the books, nothing out of place, no wondering into areas off-limits, no reports of spying or taking notes of key areas, nothing…” a frown marred the old monkey’s face as he could see the black haired man just bristle with everything he said. The Hokage knew it was impossible for the man to not ‘know’ any of this, Danzo was a paranoid that had to know _EVERYTHING_ about everyone, “As for the alleged ‘sudden’ relationship, Uchiha Jin, along with several other prominent shinobi were interested in the woman, same as any **_OTHER_** woman that comes into this village, long before, its men’s nature to be interested in exotic things,” the flat glare he sent to his former teammate didn’t mean anything, _nothing_ at _all_ … save for maybe a jab or two about certain nights in the Villages of Waterfall, Hot Springs, and Tea… The glare leveled his way told the Hokage the man got the _other_ point, but doubtful he’d let it slide, “You want more? I have a report in here of an unauthorized ‘mission’ Jin undertook himself to escort the woman to the boarder, she even offered to pay not realizing it was against the rules for him to have done as much just so he wouldn’t be in trouble,” his brows lowered pounding the point in, “the relationship was not _sudden_.”

Danzo was glaring and the way his lips mashed together made it look like he wanted nothing more than to say something but for once kept his mouth shut.

Hiruzen frowned, he didn’t want to rub the man’s face in it but he saw no point in antagonizing a woman that had already had it hard enough with the village skeptical of her for being a foreigner and the Uchiha barely giving her existence a thought beyond she was pregnant with one of their own. It had to be maddening being surrounded by people day in and day out that wanted nothing to do you when all she obviously wanted was to just be accepted into her new ‘home’, he had the required psyche screenings to prove it. As far as he, the ANBU tailing her, her husband, acquaintances or anyone else knew the woman was harmless, a little over-eager to please and fit-in, but mostly harmless.

The black haired man turned away, it was obvious he could not convince the man in any way to the obvious danger the woman possessed. Whatever her technique, whatever her ability, it was flawless enough to leave no ‘obvious’ evidence, to the point even passive evidence and speculation could be easily brushed aside. She was good, well prepared, well thought out, well planned… he just wished he knew what she was doing, smuggling Uchiha, killing them, he didn’t know, the disappearances meant _something_ and weren’t just random coincidences.

“Before you leave,” there was an edge to the Hokage’s voice as his brown eyes had a steel to them, “Tell me how an unarmed, untrained, _civilian_ with no chakra talent can take out not one, not two, but thirteen highly trained Sharingan-wielding battle-hardened Uchiha, three while pregnant and not get caught in a shinobi village?”

Black eyes stared flatly for the briefest of moments, as if the answer was simple, “Hmp,” the man turned towards the door, opening it before throwing over his shoulder, “Simple…” he glanced at his foolish friend, “With a knife…” and stepped out, leaving the fool to his own delusions.

Hiruzen sighed deeply as the door slammed behind the man he once called friend, not sure where his delusions were coming from. Something about the woman _was_ off but he couldn’t place what it was, probably just her being foreign, probably just her having her story straight but even then it wasn’t overly convenient, it wasn’t perfect, there was a reason and causality to everything and some things were just so ‘natural’ there was no way they could be intentional…

Right?

Leaning against his desk the old Sarutobi reached behind him and grabbed his pipe, mashing what was left into the thing and snapping his fingers together with enough chakra to cause a spark to light it. Taking a deep breath, he thought about his options before letting it out, “Itachi,” the man called out and in an instant a young ANBU appeared kneeling before him. The old man’s brown eyes looked upon the prodigy, wondering if what he was about to do was the right thing given the boy’s already burdensome task, “You heard all of that right?”

“Hai,” was his quick, one word answer.

The Hokage kicked off the desk, standing straight up as he stood before the kneeling ANBU, “What is your opinion on the matter?”

There was the smallest of shakes in the teen’s fist but other than that the young ANBU remained perfectly still, “I reserve judgment.”

Unconsciously the old man nodded, he expected such a straight and non-conclusive answer from the young man. Uchiha Itachi was a prodigy like no other and many sought his talents to use them for their own whims; Danzo, Orochimaru, his father, the Hokage liked to think he wasn’t among those men but at times like this he realized there was very little difference between them. They wanted something done with the tools available to them, as a member of ANBU whatever the Hokage said circumvented anyone else’s desires so long as the boy’s loyalty was to the village over everything else. He didn’t like the idea of sicing him against his clan, but he couldn’t deny that if Danzo was paranoid about something it should at least be looked at… he would give whatever ‘friendship’ they used to have at least that, “I want you to keep an eye on this woman…” brown eyes became hard as he stared at the ‘boy’ giving all seriousness to his next words, “If she is a threat… take her out.”

The ‘boy’s’ fist tightened on the floor in his kneeling position, but beyond that nothing. If it were to protect the village he would do anything asked of him, he would become a murderer and a villain if it meant this place was safe, “Hai.”

\-----

Uchiha Itachi had never thought much of the going-ons in his family. It was Danzo who had ordered him and his friend Shisui to ‘watch’ them and report back any suspicious behavior, and it had been his father, Fugaku, who had ordered him to watch ‘Konoha’s Elite’ for any suspicious behavior and report back to him. In all honestly he had liked the fact that the Hokage had yet to give him an ‘order’ against his family or village but now that he had he wasn’t sure if it was entirely unjustified. ‘Ryougi Katsuri’, now ‘Uchiha Katsuri’ seemed to be just a plain tradeswoman who had had the misfortune of her family and business being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Looking over her ‘file’ in the ANBU admin it seemed she had been in and out of the village several times, it was only when she had petitioned asylum after the apparent, and confirmed, slaughter of her family and brutal takeover of the business that she was placed under surveillance, which only ‘lessened’ when she married into the Uchiha several months ago. By all accounts there was nothing ‘wrong’ with the woman, other than she was a foreigner.

Within the first week of living in Konoha she had turned down the ANBU spy apartments but from what Itachi could tell from the surveillance it wasn’t from some ‘spy knowledge’ that they were bugged but that she thought they were too pricy. To him, this made sense, she was a trader and after having such a fiasco wouldn’t be certain of her prospects, finances were the forefront of her mind so she would seek somewhere ‘cheap’ over somewhere told to be ‘safe’. So she had chosen an apartment building that had little to no occupants because the Jinchuuriki lived on the top floor, but she didn’t seem to know anything about that. All the reports showed that it was the ‘price’ that caught her eye, and as a foreigner she would know ‘nothing’ about the stigma to the place within the village. In his opinion if she were a ‘spy’ she would have played along or avoided the place so as to not ostracize herself more, spies are supposed to keep low-profile not paint a target on them so bright even other civilians can see it.

It was Danzo’s mention that she had made contact with the boy that had even Itachi wondering, but despite the obvious location of her living quarters it wasn’t until days later when she was out job hunting and taking a break for lunch that the boy approached **_her_** , spouting something about her white hair and dragging her off to meet with the minstrel ‘Meshii Fuwa’, a blind biwa player he now knew was formally ‘Hyuuga Hizashi’, and while that brought about a whole other slew of questions as an ANBU he knew it was better to just keep that information to himself. There wasn’t much in the reports about the conversation other than the ‘minstrel’ reciting a story the boy loved about how he lost his eyes and comparing the woman to a ‘wolf’ he once knew. According to the report she was completely freaked out but tried to be as polite about it as possible, Fuwa mentioned a bar she could work at and Naruto seemed to attach himself to the woman immediately. The boy was six, Itachi didn’t blame him for reaching out to someone that didn’t look at him with malice or treat him like he didn’t exist like the rest of the village, it was probably why he even knew ‘Fuwa’ since the man was blind and _couldn’t_ look at him in such a way. The woman, being a foreigner seemed to feel the same, taking a liking to the boy, and while disturbed by Fuwa’s initial comments seemed to warm up to him. It was after this encounter the boy learned she lived in the same apartment complex as him and proceeded to bug her constantly, the ANBU reporting never mentioned anything malignant about these encounters but there was a chance there was some bias that either made them ‘see’ details not there or miss ones completely.

Reading further Itachi found the woman simply tried to ‘fit-in’, as a trader she was used to moving around, only dealing with people on occasion but overall was used to a solitary and transitory life. Her ‘over-acting’ in trying to fit-in made sense as she probably had little idea how to deal with suddenly being in a solitary place where after the initial pleasantries people started to get suspicious of you for simple things like her being a foreigner. The contacts she had in the village were still ‘pleasant’ enough but they were business so she couldn’t turn to them for any kind of help and she no longer had her transient lifestyle to fall back on to turn away suitors. Upset suitors and her association with the ‘demon child’ painted a pretty bleak target on the woman, in some ways she was lucky his pitiful cousin had fallen so completely for her, as there was an incident that the ANBU on watch did not interfere with where after helping the boy Naruto out of a fight with some bullies, by threatening to call their mothers or their teachers, the two had gone back to their respective apartments only to be hassled by several irate chuunin she had turned down. Itachi would give the boy credit, he had only _just_ gotten in the academy but he tried sticking up for a woman that had stuck up for him, too bad the men were chuunin and simply tossed him aside. There were little details in the reports of the intentions of the ‘altercation’ only that Uchiha Jin and his partner from the Uchiha police were patrolling in the area and stopped it before anything happened. Looking at his cousin’s report it only spoke of a potential ‘assault’ on the woman with no mentions of the boy from the ANBU’s report, it was obvious to him where Jin’s priorities were.

This was the point where Itachi had to put the reports down and just allow his mind to think. He remembered his cousin bursting with joy for some reason about a year ago and it had angered  several of their other cousins calling him all sorts of names and several fights broke out, not just at the compound but at bars and around town. Several people had been interested in the woman apparently, though Itachi wasn’t sure if it was for any ‘real’ relationship or just for conquest. He remembered a rumor or joke going around ANBU about Captain Hatake and how he should try his hand at some ‘white haired maiden’ since they obviously had so much in common. The joke pertained to ‘white hair’, their affinity for ‘lightning’ and something about seeing if she was a wolf or not, Itachi had never gotten that last part, as he usually ignored gossip but after reading the report about Fuwa and his story he finally got it. In the minstrel’s story there is a play on words with ‘Okami’ and a white haired maiden that is one, if the woman had any idea about the story and just how popular it is at the shinobi bar he was sure she would never have left her apartment. Captain Hatake, as far as Itachi knew, never approached the woman and it was just rumors and jokes.

Back to the point, he never paid much attention to his distant cousins; they either fluffed out the Uchiha Police or couldn’t activate their Sharingan and ended up being traders of one sort or another. He recalled several meetings with the elders his father had dragged him to, since he was the ‘heir’ of the clan he would have to learn to ‘deal’ with such trivial matters, but one in particular stood out now that he was looking through these damnable reports. Jin had requested permission to marry someone outside the clan, it wasn’t uncommon, they weren’t the inbred Hyuuga after all that had this severe _issues_ with ‘purity’, but there were stipulations, such as requests and typically the spouse had to be of some usefulness, this typically applied to shinobi. If the spouse was ANBU the elders typically stamped ‘all-clear’ right then and there, but since Jin’s woman was apparently a ‘civilian’ there was lots of and _constant_ debate. It finally came down to her ‘trade’, she excelled in business in a way that could help them achieve some financial footing as a clan, since their own goods had been on a down slope and the ‘civilian’ Uchiha had been complaining, everyone claiming some clan-ism, and if this woman, a foreigner could get people to accept her in her job, perhaps they could use that ‘charm’ to their advantage in their own financial market.

The shinobi elders didn’t like it but the civilian elders were all for it, what finally broke the tie was the news that she was, in fact, pregnant with Jin’s child. It wasn’t so much an ‘issue’ as having ‘relations’ outside of wedlock but shinobi clans, especially _bloodline_ clans were sticklers about where there genes went, and while a Konoichi was typically on some regiment of birth control and Ninja carried condoms as part of their field packages, a civilian wasn’t ‘required’ to do any of these things. As part of these ‘meetings’ Itachi could see it in some of the Shinobi elder’s eyes, to them it was like proof she wasn’t some spy or blood-hunter while others were still skeptical. They had dragged the poor woman in front of the clan council and she looked utterly embarrassed, there was nothing about her that Itachi could judge as a threat, but as ‘heir’ he was really just there to ‘observe’ not actually **_do_** anything. His father had granted Jin permission on the condition they examine the child after it was born, if it was not Uchiha, she and it would be removed. Watching the fear in the woman’s eyes as her hands huddled around her flat stomach had seemed wrong to Itachi, but he was fifteen, ANBU or not no one cared about his honest opinion of such a situation.

Despite the lengthy drawn out process the marriage went by quickly, he hadn’t attended as he was on a mission and it was a cousin he didn’t really care about. Uchiha Jin didn’t deserve such a woman in his opinion, or one period, he was one of the bottom rung Uchiha, along with about twenty others, who had just barely managed to activate their Sharingan and wasted their time being happy as ‘Chuunin’ working in the Uchiha Police. They were a fluff patrol, just for show, as the ANBU were the ‘real’ ones guarding the village, inside and out. His father was in control of the UP so he supposed it had _some_ merit, in that civilians had an easier time reporting problems to the UP then the ANBU. Still, once the woman was ‘integrated’ into the Uchiha it seemed his family had made every effort possible to cut her off from the outside village, for some bullshit ‘security’ reason, he honestly thought they were being paranoid, planning to kill her and take the child or something. She had been forced to quit her job at the bar, which had thrown a party that was leagues better than the muted affair of her wedding, according to the ANBU reports. There had been several note-worthy farewells and last-minute attempts to keep her, both civilian and shinobi, even a bawling Inuzuka and the weirdly beneficent Hyuuga Hiashi telling her if there were any problems with the ‘Uchiha Bastards’, his words, to not hesitate to come over, ‘they’ would be watching. But after that it seemed his clan had made a point of _trying_ to keep her within their walls as much as possible… ‘try’ being the apt word.

While Itachi had never paid much attention to the woman before, he suddenly understood those early morning ‘reports’ his mother gave his father along with several other nuances that spoke of someone being difficult. His mother was former ANBU, a Jounin, he honestly swore all his ‘talent’ came from her side of the family, but the moment she became the ‘clan head’s wife’ she too had been forced to give up all that, officially. In all honesty Itachi was convinced the marriage was arranged so his father had a constant body-guard and someone to control the ‘gossip-network’ within the clan, as **_everything_** traveled through Uchiha Mikoto. And with the reports done by the group of ANBU that still observed the woman when outside the Uchiha compound it seemed she had done little to dissuade the people she associated with out in the village, while now working for the Uchiha merchants, she still spent free time babysitting for the Hyuuga, playing word games with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio when she would visit the bar, and various other things, but perhaps the one thing that he now understood had infuriate his mother, and the clan, the most was her continued association with the Kyuubi container.

In retrospect, Itachi wonder if he should have noticed this, sure he was busy spying on the village for his clan and spying on his clan for the village and somewhere in the middle of it all wanting nothing more than helping his little brother… but still. He knew the ostracizing of the Jinchuuriki was foolish, he didn’t agree with Danzo’s idea of making him a weapon or his father’s idea of just killing ‘it’, he felt the boy had potential and if he would help the village then good on him. It seemed the only people that agreed with him were the Hokage, who could do nothing since he couldn’t be biased, and a foreign woman that apparently wouldn’t let go of a bond with a small child just because her husband’s _Clan_ said so. He would give the woman praise for that, it was probably just her being a ‘civilian’ that made it so she had little concept on clan politics, but her reaching out to the boy was a good thing…

… Or so he would have thought if he hadn’t now been placed in the precarious position of having to ‘watch’ her as well in case she was a spy.

Not just _any_ spy, an assassin capable of being so meticulously precise as to fool an entire village, his clan, the ANBU following her, the Hokage, the T &I experts that went through her mind, and who knows who else and being able to take down people of his caliber or less within his own clan…

“With a knife,” he unconsciously muttered to himself; remembering Danzo’s cryptic answer to the Hokage’s question. Perhaps he was thinking about this too complicatedly, perhaps Danzo’s paranoid simplistic view of ‘she is what she is’ was true. He doubted anyone would be capable of ‘controlling’ everything so finely, but if someone were able to adapt as she obviously was then… maybe? Reading all these reports, anything to do with the woman, and it did paint an unusual picture, how could someone who’s just a civilian become so ingrained into so many facets of the village so quickly? Was it charm, a technique, or was she simply that ‘good’? Business was almost as ruthless and cutthroat as being a shinobi, perhaps she truly _was_ just a civilian and used that style to gain all she had so quickly… but she didn’t seem like someone with the mindset for such ambition, which made it look like just coincidence and people wanting to ‘help’ someone so… fragile? Tragic? He didn’t know the right word, but if this woman _was_ an actress with a plan she could certainly achieve it.

What didn’t sit right with him was the ‘disappearances’ of his kinsmen. During the times of the supposed ‘disappearance’, them leaving the village on missions only to never be seen again, the woman was somewhere expected doing what she was supposed to, the ANBU had no reports of any chakra use on her part or strange hand signs. When she had lived in her apartment under the Jinchuuriki it had been searched weekly, bi-weekly, almost daily when they started happening, looking for some kind of book or journal or _something_ that a spy would have on them. The only weapons she had were kitchen cutlery! The only thing they _couldn’t_ do was check her person, and after reading two or three reports of her ‘relations’ with his cousin the ANBU had reported no tattoos or markings that would signify a seal on her body… they checked **_really_** carefully. Even the doctors when she had her physicals had nothing to report other than the typical anomalies associated with someone that live in high altitudes most of their life, like _ANYONE_ from the Land of Lightning. What scars she had were ‘typical’, not battle scars, not stress from training… nothing. The only thing Itachi could think of was they should check her clothing, but most of it was new and bought from the village, the only outfit she still had from her home were the ones brought with her and they had been checked over previously, and they all appeared old and well-worn so no one could tell if the stitching was ‘off’ or just old.

The biggest kicker for Itachi that made him skeptical there was anything even _wrong_ with this woman was the fact that she _did_ know something was up. It wasn’t like a shinobi’s battle senses where they were precise and honed so they would know _exactly_ what it was, for her it was just a normal amount of paranoia and feeling that something is ‘off’. There were reports of her expressing this to her ‘friends’ and husband, but all of them just laughing and saying it was probably ANBU, her reported reactions were typical of a civilian, mild fear and confusion. Anyone that had an ounce of training wouldn’t be so… vulnerable. Even genin would react more aggressively to such suspicions and someone of Jounin rank would have their reactions much more subdued. It was instinctive, it wasn’t something that could be controlled so easily, so all Itachi or anyone else that watched the woman could say was that she was a ‘normal’ civilian with ‘normal’ survival instincts someone that traveled a lot would have, nothing suggested she was shinobi in any sense.

She didn’t have developed chakra reserves; a Hyuuga would have informed them with the frequency she did deliveries for them and Hiashi being ‘friendly’ with the woman. She didn’t have developed musculature or bone structure or any kind of physiology beyond what would be expected of someone that lived in the climate that was the Land of Lightning or traveled excessively in their life. She didn’t have overdeveloped senses and her mind had been scanned several times by Yamanaka… so _where_ was it?! Where was the ‘thing’ that had tipped off a paranoid man like Danzo to be skeptical of the woman?

His father Fugaku had assumed the village was kidnapping their people to make them ‘weaker’, Danzo was convinced the Uchiha were using this woman as some contact to outsiders to ‘hide’ their people. All Itachi thought was they were MIA or KIA and the ‘coincidence’ of them going missing while she was here was speculation at best. Unless this woman had such an amazing technique, say to teleport or stop time or something equally ridiculous that would require massive reserves and a long series of seals, and just plucked his kinsmen outside the village while everyone thought she was still inside it, the point was moot. If she were capable of such a thing, the question becomes ‘why do it in such way to begin with?’ and that just raised far **_more_** questions.

It was simply ‘easier’ to say she was _just_ a civilian.

Fed up, and sitting at his desk in the dark bowels of ANBU HQ, Itachi did something he had only heard other people do…

He flipped his desk over.

Not knowing why and not caring that he would have to spend hours filing those reports back the way they were and exactly how they went, having the Sharingan to copy them all perfectly in his mind helped with that, he simply stood up and walked out the door. He was going to do something no one in ANBU ever did.

He was going to simply _talk_ with his target.

\-----

It was another sunny cloudless day in Konoha, a bright early morning with Ninja returning home, kids getting up to play before school, shops to start opening…

Formally ‘Ryougi’ Katsuri was taking a deep breath as for her something as simple as walking down the street felt like running a marathon, not that she’d blame the baby developing in her stomach. A hand absently rubbed along the engorged area and a smile played lightly at her lips.

“Ne, Katsu-chan?” a rowdy voice next to her called.

The older woman increased her small satisfied grin, turning to the boy with pleasant grey eyes, “Naruto-kun, what have I said about asking like that?”

The blonde whisker-faced boy made an exaggerated pout, lip sticking out and eyes closed like a fox as he turned facing forward with his arms behind his head, “You sound like Michio-sensei, goin’ on about ‘proper’ talking an’ stuff…”

The woman raised a hand and laughed lightly behind it, before lowering it and flicking the little boy in the ear, smirking like a mean older sister as he jumped, “well, Michio-sensei has it right,” she brought her hand back, folding it in her sleeves with her other over her stomach, grey eyes looking forward, “The best way to show others you are serious is to speak properly,” cloudy grey eyes peaked to the boy who was scowling at her, “others may take what you say seriously then.”

His blue eyes just narrowed, not all the way closed in that ‘fox look’ as the older woman called it, but still a scowl nonetheless… even if it didn’t look all that serious on a seven year old, “yea, well,” the boy pouted, putting his hands in his sleeveless hoodie’s pockets, “s’not like anyone pays attention anyway…”

There were kind eyes pointed at the boy as a pale white hand lay on his head, mussing his bright blonde hair, incidentally turning him towards her, “Well **_I_** believe you Naruto-kun,” another toss of his hair, “But that’s probably because in the Land of Lightning, people are taught to take what others say seriously,” she poked his forehead, giving a light laugh as the boy put on that ‘fox look’ again.

Naruto furiously rubbed his forehead, wondering if its ‘attacks’ like that which were why Ninja wore headbands, “che,” his lip was out pouting again, “What’s the point takin’ what everyone says seriously? I mean Michio-sensei’s a jerk and most’a what he says is boring…”

Again that soft laugh behind the woman’s hand, “Well I’m sure that’s how some others feel when _you_ are out screaming about whatever it is Fuwa’s taught the last time he visited,” the boy’s responsive pout was completely adorable and she rubbed his head again for it, “Now don’t you have a test or something you’ll be late for today?” the pale woman nodded her head toward the building not far off that they had been slowly walking towards.

“Pfft,” the boy waved his hand down, “They can wait, we’ll get there when the mighty Uzumaki Naruto chooses to get there!! Dattebayou!!”

White brows perked up, unconvinced, “Uh-huh,” she flicked him in the ear again. Ever since the boy had dragged the woman off to meet his ‘SUPER-COOL’ friend Fuwa and she had pretty much become the boy’s honorary ‘older sister’ she had been _trying_ to get him to stop saying that nonsense word. A year and something later and still no such luck. The smile on her face was appreciative as she looked down to the grinning blonde boy, something about him always reminding her of someone, “this wouldn’t be because you’re just staying back to be _polite_ for me, would it?”

“Polite?” he had that fox look again, blonde brows cocked and that scowl on his face, “I don’t even know the meaning of the word!” for some reason he crossed his arms and gave a firm nod, “a true Ninja simply never leaves a person behind!!” why was he grinning with his fist pumped like that?

The light laughter covered by the demure woman’s hand followed quickly as he turned and gentle grey eyes fell on him, “But, Naruto-kun, I’m not a ‘ninja’ nor is this a deadly mission,” she took an extra step forward just to poke him in the forehead again, “this is **you** going to be late for school because **I** am walking too slow,” the smile didn’t diminish at all as the boy pouted, “Learn to pick your priorities…”

“But Katsu-chan~” the boy whined, quivering in his lip, “You’re more important than that dumb test,” he vehemently pointed out, “I can take another test, makin’ sure you’re safe is-” before he knew it the boy was enveloped in a tight hug smothered in kimono fabric.

“Thank you Naruto-kun,” pale lips kissed the top of the boys head as he turned several interesting shades of embarrassed red, the woman giving a light laugh before holding him out at arm’s length, a wry look in her intelligent grey eyes, “but that’s not going to stop me from yelling at you to go on ahead and that your tests **_ARE_** more important,” her hands dropped and folded into her sleeves, “Now, aren’t you going to go be a great ninja and save princesses from nasty Ogres?”

At first the boy looked admonished, then a snicker passed his lips and a shiver started in his shoulders, before long he’d shot his head back and was laughing with a boisterous confident ease that Katsuri could have sworn she’d heard _somewhere_ , “That’s right!” there was a wide grin showing all his teeth and closing his eyes as he looked up at the older woman he cared for, “I’m Uzumaki Naruto!! And I’m going to be the greatest Ninja EVER!!”

A bell rang off in the distance.

“Well, Greatest Ninja Ever,” there was _not_ a snicker in the pale woman’s voice, “It seems you have five minutes before class…” the boy looked stricken and pale making a pretty pathetic squeak as he knew how much the woman in front of him _cared_ about punctuality. His bright blue eyes happened to look up into those flat grey ones as she let the rest of her sentence drop, “I’d say you’d have to run to make it on time…”

The boy started twitching, starting in his fingers and ending with his feet moving in place as he looked around at everything.

Katsuri simply smirked to herself before placing her hand on the boys head and physically turning him around in the direction towards his school, before gently tapping him on the back as if to get him started.

Naruto took off like a rocket, turning back a moment mid jump to wave openly with that becoming signature grin on his face, “See ya, Katsu-chan, I’ll meet ya after class!!”

“I’ll try to make it on time,” the white haired woman called back as she waved at the boy turning to try and catch up. As the blonde went out of sight her hand slowly lowered, ending up on her large stomach and sighed.

“That was a nice thing to say to him,” a dark voice called out from the woman’s left as she nearly jumped to turn around. In front of her was a stoic looking young man in full ANBU gear, his Konoha Hitae-ate on his head a bit crooked and off to the side, as his shoulder length black hair was tied in a low pony-tail with the bangs framing his face. It was his pure black eyes though that had the woman’s sole attention, though.

“I-Itachi-san,” pale hands immediately lowered as the heavily pregnant woman attempted a bow but obviously could do very little beyond tilting her head and leaning slightly, “To what do I owe this pleasure?” she kept her head down and something about that felt wrong to the young Uchiha.

“Katsuri-san, please raise your head,” that low monotone spoke as he reached out to touch the woman’s shoulder. She was shaking, not from any surprise but he felt genuine fear. – _Fear of what?_ \- was all that passed through his mind as he managed to get the woman to stand straight, even if she still had her head lowered submissively.

“I-I apologize, it would be rude of me to be presumptuous and not show the clan head’s son proper respect,” he wondered where she’d learned that as her grey eyes continued to avoid him.

It was hard to tell but a _very_ minute frown formed on the infamous Uchiha’s lips, “Katsuri-san, I am not here as my father’s heir at the moment,” grey eyes glanced his way sheepishly, “I’m just an ANBU getting off work,” he raised his hands non-threateningly with the barest of smiles he could manage, not wanting to give too much away, “And happen to spot a clansmen helping a child out…”

White brows rose skeptically but the woman was looking at him directly now at least, “You’re not here to tell me to stay away from Naruto-kun?”

At this Itachi blinked, were his clansmen _really_ harassing the woman so much about that that she automatically assumed the clan heir would do the same? “Why would you think that?”

His perplexion must have been obvious on his face, despite his ANBU training and dealing with his father and Danzo teaching him how to hide everything, because the woman tried suppressing a light chuckle only to be ‘forced’ to hide it, “W-well… y-yes, honestly,” her laugh was melodic and jovial, not meant to insult in any way, “Apologies, Itachi-san, but you have a terrible poker face.”

A black brow rose on the Uchiha heir, “Poker face?”

The woman’s grey eyes seemed to lighten as she gave a small but genuine smile to the young man, “I’ve worked enough bars, and traveled around enough to know that Ninja pride themselves at being unreadable,” an unconscious laugh tried to hide uselessly behind one of her raised sleeves as her other hand rested comfortably on her raised stomach, “Even though most of them I see have such terrible and _obvious_ faces…”

Itachi’s brow remained raised as he looked the woman over himself. As far as he could tell the smile on her face was genuine, if a bit cocky, and her body language didn’t appear defensive, if anything she became more _comfortable_ around him in the last few minutes then he’d ever seen her in their home. If she were a spy or assassin she would _know_ he was lying… so why act and point it out? Without realizing it the barest of pouts rose on the young teen’s face, “Are you saying I have an easily readable face?”

She smiled brightly, taking a step forward to pass him and presumably head home, “I’m saying, if I were trying to make a business deal with you, or any Ninja, I could scam you out of all your profits and you wouldn’t even know,” she laughed in her hand again, “In fact I could probably win a million Ryou off you with a single hand of junk cards, you thinking it was a royal flush…” the white haired woman started walking off at a slow pace, giggling apparently at the look on his face.

Itachi did pretty much pout, staring at her back and long white pony tail, before quickly catching up to her and walking with her, “As a member of ANBU it’s our policy to not gamble…”

“With money, you mean?” she turned a wry smile on the young man to which he must have been glaring as a smirk rose on her lips and the pale woman looked about to ‘giggle’ again at his apparent ‘openness’, “I suppose you are a bit young to enjoy drinking and gambling,” those white brows rose in the middle giving something of a pitying look, “Such a shame when you risk your life all the time for this village.”

That comment felt like a slap in the face to Itachi, how did she-

“It’s written all over your face,” she pointed at him with a slim delicate pale hand, “I may not be a ninja, but I know enough,” there was a nod as her smile became pleasant and her hands folded over her developing stomach, “My husband is in the police, so I’m lucky that it keeps him in the village, but I’ve traveled around the world, I know, at least in some ways, the hardships you ninja face, and I can imagine the dangers you put yourselves in,” there was a soft, sad look in those grey eyes as she looked the young man directly in his currently black ones, “and from what I hear about you, Itachi- _kun_ , you are quite the risk taker,” a soft laugh, “Even if you are still so young…”

Something in Itachi’s figure sighed, the woman hadn’t been insinuating his ‘jobs’, just thinking about his work in ‘general’… for a moment, a small moment, he had felt relieved that someone ‘understood’ his burden for a moment, but why did that make him feel so disappointed now? The dark teen schooled his features as he walked pleasantly on at the woman’s slower pace, “I’m not _that_ young, Katsuri-san.”

He only caught it in the corner of his eye but the woman was definitely giving him a wry smirk, “Oh really, Itachi-kun?” she grabbed him around the arm and turned down another corner, “Then you are going to indulge me for a moment,” the young Uchiha heir’s eyes must have been bugging out as the woman took them off their course back ‘home’, “You said you were ‘off’ work right?”

“Y-yes, but-” Was as far as Itachi got before the woman seemed to attempt picking up the slack and turning another corner.

“Then no worries,” sharp grey eyes turned back to the teen as the older woman just smirked, “If you don’t mind being an ‘adult’ for a while,” the white haired woman turned back to the path, “Ever since getting pregnant with this little one,” she rubbed her stomach unconsciously with her free-hand, “I haven’t been able to enjoy the leisure of a good drink, or the company of a good game or two,” the pleasant smile she turned his way as they moved along was again genuine, “But, just because **_I_** can’t enjoy such things, does **_not_** mean a young man like yourself can’t…”

A petulant frown came over the Uchiha heir’s face, “I’ve drank before Katsuri-san,” memories of his father shoving sake down his throat weren’t ‘fun’ in his opinion.

Those grey eyes seemed to stare flatly on him a moment, “Judging by that look on your face I’d say you didn’t enjoy the experience,” there was a _slight_ nod from the woman’s captive, but that only made her beam more for some reason, “Well, then whoever dragged you along obviously didn’t know what they were doing,” Itachi was partially tempted to state the irony in that statement before the woman patted his arm lightly, “Don’t worry, I’ll teach you properly and I’m sure the others won’t take _too_ much advantage of you,” the laugh that followed was jovial and unserious.

The look on Itachi’s face when was anything but…

Slowly, he started to wonder if this was why ANBU stayed to the shadows and simply _watched_ their targets, as he couldn’t remember a single instance in his career where someone **_else_** gripped about being dragged off to a bar by a pregnant woman in the middle of the day. Something about that statement just seemed completely _off_ in his opinion… although, he supposed, if the woman was this ‘friendly’ with everyone he supposed that answered why she could get to know so many prominent people so quickly. It wasn’t a ‘ruse’ as far as he could tell and simply how the woman acted…

Or maybe she just wanted him to make a fool of himself and vicariously enjoy the drinking, as she had said, she hadn’t had the ‘chance’ to enjoy a drink since her discovery of being pregnant…

Too many thoughts were running through the young ANBU’s mind as he failed to realize one thing, the white haired woman had achieved her goal: distracting one of the greatest ANBU Konoha had while appearing completely harmless.

\-----

“She’s right, that boy has a TERRIBLE poker face,” a busty young looking woman in a white lab coat stated discreetly as she and her cohort looked up at the screen. Yue felt something was missing from this scene to fully enjoy it but that would probably be a bit ‘unprofessional’…

“Like you would know anything about that,” the flat manly voice to her right sauntered into the woman’s ears. Kimyou was just frowning, boots on the console and bulging-biceps so close to tearing his standard-issue lab coat to pieces crossed over his chest his present company was squealing in her mind. His square jaw tilted as flat dark brown eyes watched the screen, “how old is that kid?”

Yue tapped the end of a pen on her plump painted lips, “If I remember my bingo book correctly, that’s ‘Uchiha Itachi’, age 15, ANBU rank, effectively a captain in title but I bet due to his young age he has difficulty getting older veterans to take him seriously…”

A manly brow rose, “What makes you say that?”

“I mean look at him!” Yue’s hand waved out in front of her gesturing to the screen where Kemui was looking at the slightly taller young man, “He’s all lanky with that aura of being depressed all the time,” the seduction expert just frowned, “just by _looks_ her husband could chew him up and spit him out!”

Flat brown eyes stared at the screen, “She did have a couple Uchiha to pick from, ‘Uchiha Jin’ was just the most adamant and persistent…” he ran a hand along his chin, feeling a bit of stubble and realizing he should shave even if he was completely missing the sparkle in his co-worker’s eyes as they ran along his tight arm and manly jaw, “Looking at this kid, I guess with the Uchiha ‘power’ comes in how much of a sissy you look like…”

Ignoring the bulging biceps, Yue turned back to the screen and quirked a pale-cream colored brow, “That is true… from what I’ve read that boy is the most proficient Uchiha they’ve bred in **_YEARS_** yet he looks… so…”

“Non-threatening?” manly brows quirked as Kimyou too stared at the screen.

“Weak…” was Yue’s final decision as she stuck the pen in her mouth, wiggling it around as she crossed her arms under her exposed chest, ignoring that Kimyou was adamantly not looking her way.

“Hmm,” those large arms unfurled from over the man’s chest and moved behind his head, if it weren’t for flak vest under his lab coat Yue would be squealing about his eight-pack being exposed, luckily the woman had an active imagination to make up for reality, “Still wondering why she picked that weakling, Kemui-san doesn’t seem to me to be one to pick by looks alone…”

There was a _completely_ undignified snort to the man’s left, “Isn’t it _obvious_?” when her pale eyes glanced at the lounging male scientist and his dark eyes remained flat under his manly brows telling her he _completely_ didn’t get it, she repressed another snort, “his name is **_‘Jin’_**!”

Large brown brow rose, still not getting it.

Yue stared flatly at the man she had thought smarter than this, “What is the name of the Raikage?”

Manly brow still raised, “A?”

She stared flatter, “That’s EVERY Raikage’s ‘codename’,” her arms seemed to squeeze her breasts in annoyance, “Now I know you remember back when he _wasn’t_ the Raikage and **_what_** was his name?”

The moderately tan man glanced away bored, thinking slowly just to get that devil woman all flustered, “Oh yea, Gouzen Jinrai,” dark eyes glanced back at the woman, “So what?”

“ ** _Jin_** -rai,” those pale hazel eyes were flat as she added emphasis on the syllable that meant anything.

At first it seemed Kimyou didn’t get it, his dark brown manly brow quirking before the gears finally moved in the right direction and his eyes widened and both brows went up, “No…”

“Yes,” the seduction expert grinned evilly as she dragged out the word, looking back at the screen.

“No!” Kimyou was glaring, arms back down around his stomach, “There’s no way…”

“Why not?!” the woman had both hands out palms up, “I mean, _honestly_ when was the last time you ever heard the man _involved_ with anyone?” her sly eyes turned on her cohort, one thin brow cocked suggestively, “And I mean, she’s _always_ by his side, right?”

There may or may not have been a _slight_ twitch in the pony-tailed man’s eye, “You can’t just-there’s no way- augh!!” he threw his hands up in the air before covering his eyes, “It’s not our business to judge the affairs of our boss!!”

“Yes, _affairs_ …” the smirk on the woman’s face was devious.

Kimyou just glared at his obviously perverted co-worker, “Besides, other than ‘name’ why would that matter?”

The woman gave a devious snort, “hey, I wouldn’t want to get ‘caught’ by screaming another man’s name in middle of sex,” the laugh she released was evil; downright **_evil_** as her cohort just seemed to go into a twitching spasm. The woman smirked before leaning forward and hitting a few buttons on the console, altering the view on the large screen, “Now, enough of watching that boy get drunk… on to current affairs~”

Kimyou just grumbled as he put two fingers to his temple and rubbed, trying to find the ‘valid’ information on these tapes was getting harder and harder, it didn’t help that Yue liked to take detours every so often just to poke at prospecting ‘dates’ for their charge, even though they could quite literally see that the woman did _nothing_ of the sort with any of these people, just her supposed ‘husband’. The things his co-worker came up with were scary, like that deal with the Hyuuga Lord and a scary woman from the Inuzuka, it was like the woman’s mind was wired to spot ‘affairs’ all over the place, weather they involved their ‘charge’ or not, _ESPECIALLY_ if they involved their charge, when they knew they didn’t… he was partly scared to find out what the woman _didn’t_ share with him. He glanced at the large screen, now switched to ‘live’ feed where their charge was currently looking the Uchiha head in the face, surrounded by what they’d learned was the Uchiha clan council, “What’s going on now?”

An oddly subdued look was on his co-worker’s face when the man looked at the busty woman, “A problem,” she said flatly, removing the pen from her mouth and twirling it in one hand as her eyes stared flatly at the screen.

The screen panned down, in front of the Uchiha clan council and their charge was a squirming baby crying to be held…

… With white hair.

\-----

Uchiha Katsuri was staring at the child she had held within her body for nine months cry on the ground between her and the Uchiha clan council, specifically in front of Fugaku, the head of the clan. The woman’s body was fidgeting, her grey eyes wider than normal, her long white bangs doing very little to hide the emotions littering her face. The woman wanted nothing more than to grab her barely-a-few-days-old child and shush him to a comfortable sleep away from all these prying and appraising eyes…

… but every time she so much as twitched out of line someone would reprimand her to remain seated and quiet, if not the council then her own husband sitting next to her.

All the Uchiha, the _real_ Uchiha, were staring at the child with something akin to disgust, if the woman weren’t so good at reading people she would think they didn’t care, but it was obvious every single one of them was outraged. If Katsuri wasn’t who she was, a trader’s daughter married into a Shinobi clan, and was someone else, who say knew a first born Uchiha bastard, then she’d know exactly why they were all so furious and what they were all assuming… but she wasn’t, she was Katsuri, a trader’s daughter and nothing more.

“Jin,” the gravelly flat voice of Fugaku spoke only to the one before them of his blood, completely ignoring the woman, “We didn’t ask this before as a courtesy, but was she _pure_ the first time you were with her?”

Red ran across the woman’s face, but from rage or embarrassment was hard to tell as her eyes finally left the child to stare directly at the clan head, “Fugaku-sa-”

“No,” was the flat reply to the woman’s left. She turned to stare at her husband, hurt obvious in her eyes as he had his closed facing away.

“So who was it?” Fugaku’s cold black eyes were on the woman as she turned back to the clan head at his biting question, “Who were you ashamed enough to have been with to try and fool one of our clan into being the father of…” the woman could have sworn the man’s eyes turned red for a moment as he looked down at the child, “… _this_.”

Grey eyes went wide, the woman’s teeth clinching as something passed in her gaze that had nothing to do with ‘Ryougi Katsuri’.

Before anyone could notice the look, or simply assumed she was scandalized, Fugaku turned back to the woman, black eyes glaring, “Anyone of Senjuu descent can have white hair, that Hatake boy, huh?” the clan head’s frown was deep and eyes sharp, “Who was it?” he completely ignored as the woman opened her mouth to answer as he glared further at the child, “ _It_ keeps its eyes closed so we can’t even see them, though those too are probably the wrong color-”

“They are _black_!” the woman shouted, finally getting all the murmuring of the council and her own child to be quiet with her voice as she clinched her teeth, fisting her hands on her knees, “ _His_ eyes are _black_ , same as his father’s,” a hiccup caught in her throat but she forced her head up to glare steel at the man that lead the Uchiha, “same as _yours_!”

There were several gasps in the silence at the woman’s _audacity_ to speak to them in such a manner when _clearly_ she was the one at fault here.

“She is right, Father,” a low monotone spoke from Fugaku’s right, all eyes turning on the young clan Heir, “Unlike any of you, I was actually _there_ when the boy was born, one of the first to see him open his eyes,” the young ANBU captain stared sternly at his father with his own black eyes, “And unlike other clans, whose children are born with blue eyes that later change color, or the Hyuuga’s white ones, that boy,” he looked down at the now quiet if still upset white haired baby, “He has _our_ eyes.”

There were murmurs and grumblings from the other councilors, one more vocal then the rest who finally stated the obvious, “What about its hair, all Uchiha are born with black hair!” the comment only incited more grumbling.

“Ha! What do you have to say about _that_ …” it was obvious the councilor held back a slur, but everyone knew what was to be said, they all were practically accusing her of it.

Grey eyes glared at the bastards that dared call her son illegitimate, her teeth clinched but another outburst obvious on her face.

“Are you all so blind?” another comment from the youngest one there. Itachi looked at the woman, it had been his job to ‘watch’ her and he had yet to find anything ‘wrong’ so far, even if he would admit to himself he may have become a bit biased. The woman was easy to get along with, polite most of the time, especially when the situation called for it such as in front of Naruto, even his younger brother the few times she had met him, but he knew she could be ‘normal’ like any other adult. But the one thing he had noticed about the woman, and he hoped wasn’t completely misleading him, was that she was ‘upstanding’, for lack of a better word, in that while people were interested in her she was loyal to his cousin whom he now thought more than ever didn’t deserve her. She didn’t deserve this ridicule, this farce of stupidity of his clan simply being prejudice, so he looked at her, at her _obviously_ white hair, and asked a simple question, “Katsuri-san, what color were your parents’ hair?”

The fury on the woman’s face waned as she glanced at her friend, perplexed for a moment at his odd question, “My father’s was white while my mother’s brown?”

The murmuring rabble stopped as Itachi nodded, “And your father’s parents?”

At first the woman’s brows quirked in question before he could see her think about it then flattened with a light smile, “My grandmother’s was white while my grandfather’s was dark blonde…”

Itachi nodded again, closing his eyes and trying not to look smug, “And your siblings? Aunts and uncles on your father’s side?”

A light appreciative smile passed the woman’s lips as she gazed impressed at her young friend, “All white…”

Another nod from the Uchiha heir as he finally opened his eyes to look at his father like he and the rest of them were idiots, “It’s obvious, that while not a Shinobi clan, the white hair of Katsuri-san’s family is a strong, almost bloodline trait,” his father frowned but he turned back to the grateful looking woman, “And while ‘black’ hair is common among Uchiha, even those of less and less Uchiha blood do not have it, so it makes sense that Katsuri-san’s son wouldn’t when the trait in her family is stronger than our own eyes.”

There were burgeoning murmurs from the council but it was obvious not a one of them were humbled or cared to apologize for their ‘jump to conclusions’, made most noteworthy when Fugaku merely sucked in a deep breath and stated with a frown, “Very well, we’ll consider the information,” he waved his hand, not even looking at the woman, “You may leave, take the child with you.” The man made no hint of it in his words, but it was obvious they simply wanted the woman gone, with her child, so they could discuss this _shame_ with her husband.

Itachi watched as the woman thankfully took her child in her arms, nuzzling and holding the boy tightly, before giving a swift, thankful glance his way with those grey eyes. Something in Itachi deflated as his shoulders lowered, ignoring the raving that started the moment the woman was gone at her husband, as he felt ‘bad’. Why did he bother defending her _now_ when the only reason he was bothering to even speak with the white haired woman was to see if she were a spy or not? The disappearances had continued and he’d yet to find a way to prove or disprove her involvement in them…

For a moment Itachi lowered his head, sighing… for once he actually felt ‘bad’ about lying and it was to someone that wasn’t his baby-brother…

\-----

“Think any of that’s true?” Kimyou asked, staring at the screen, his anger about how much of assholes the Uchiha were waning as their charge seemed to just be looking at the bubbly baby boy in her arms as he grabbed her finger she had been waving in front of him.

“Hell no,” Yue was twirling her pen again, also looking at the screen until she got that feeling the moderately sized man next to her was staring. Pale eyes glanced over seeing his flat dark ones, “What?”

Flat eyes kept staring.

There was a dramatic sigh, jiggling her breasts over her one arm across her chest, “Look, you remember _those_ guys, the ones that were from here were anywhere from light tan to dark skinned with anything from dark blonde to burgundy hair,” she held up two fingers as if making a point, “The ones that came over from the north where **_dark_** , as in dark skin, dark eyes, dark hair, the works,” that hand waved, “Now unless whatever-it-was that wiped out their village had a fetish for killing off humans that weren’t **_dark_** except for Kemui-san, then it’s safe to assume that anyone _directly_ related to her was…”

“Dark…” Kimyou’s flat voice beat the woman to it.

Pale eyes glared at the man a second, “Yes, pretty much,” she turned to face the screen again, looking at the baby in the woman’s arms. He was the spitting image of his mother, pale almost white skin, white hair, the only thing that separated them other than gender were in fact his black eyes, and while Yue wanted to put the pale skin as part of the boy’s obvious father’s fault, something about the woman’s own genealogy made her wonder if it wasn’t something specifically special about _her_ that caused it and therefore meant her son was the same way, “I remember most of the ones I worked with looked kind of like you,” she glanced at the man next to her, “Pretty generic,” an evil smirk played at the woman’s plump lips as the ‘generic’ man flatly glared at her, “But something about Kemui-san,” she turned back to the screen, “Is definitely _different_ …”

It was quiet for a long moment before Kimyou voiced the obvious question, “Think she’s a bastard?”

There was a light sigh from the woman next to him, “At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised…”

\-----

The meeting had been short-lived, a mostly just arguing on the side of the council at Jin’s idiocy for assuming the worst about his wife, when it was _them_ who had made the assumptions. Itachi thought they were all just morons. It had been decided that the woman could stay, whatever strangeness she _had_ been useful to them, at least on the civilian side, and some actually wondered if her connections to the other clans could prove disastrous to them, especially when they were _so close_ to fulfilling their plans. Again, Itachi thought they were idiots. He slipped out when speculations on the ‘coup’ started up and he recognized that familiar ‘disappointment’ from his father that he either was leaving or hadn’t provided them whatever-amazing information to destroy the village. In his opinion they had the ‘answer’ right in their hands and they willfully just shunned it, so whatever he said they didn’t need to hear right now…

Upon taking a step outside, he took a deep breath before slowly letting it out…

“That bad?” a light voice called to him, causing the teen Uchiha to immediately find it. His black eyes found the white haired woman, giggling baby in hand, looking at him serenely, but what was most important was the person sitting next to her tufting the baby’s hair.

“Nii-chan!” Sasuke called out loudly, waving to his brother. The black haired boy hopped off the low wall he and Katsuri had been sitting on to run over to his brother and hug him around the legs, nuzzle a moment then grin widely up at his role-model.

Itachi just stared down at the boy, blinking more than once, “What are you doing here Sasuke?”

The younger boy merely gave an angry pout and the ANBU captain could have _sworn_ mumbled something about ‘stupid older brothers’, but it was the light laugh of the woman that grabbed his attention again.

“He was…” Katsuri started slowly, rocking her son and looking gently at the second son of the clan head, taking in his pout before smiling and looking back up at the elder brother, “He was looking for you.”

The pout increased as Itachi looked down at his now appearing to sulk brother, “You wanted to train didn’t you?”

Sasuke finally let go of his brother’s leg only to cross his arms and look away, “Course I would… Nii-chan keeps forgetting…”A hand came down on Sasuke’s spiky head, rubbing this way and that and overall messing up his hair.

The woman laughed at the odd affection while Itachi gave the slightest of smiles, “I see?” the older teen gazed lovingly at his brother, wanting nothing more than for him to stay this cute, but knowing the harsh reality of the world wouldn’t allow that. Black eyes turned to the woman still seated, wondering why she was still there, “Katsuri-san, why are you still here?” he turned back slightly to gesture to the building where another meeting was being held, “They’ve already decided to keep you around, there is a different meeting going on now…” when Itachi looked back he noticed the woman’s shoulders were down as she only looked at her son.

His little brother elbowed him in the thigh. When the older Uchiha brother looked down he saw Sasuke’s smaller black eyes just glaring at him with the most obvious scowl on his face, the boy glared for a second before crossing his arms and looking away in a huff, “Nii-chan’s a jerk…”

That light laughter again caught both brother’s attention, “You shouldn’t say such things Sasuke-kun,” Katsuri was smiling when they both looked, but it was obvious something was upsetting her, “He’s just telling the truth,” she slowly got up, resting her son on her shoulder as she looked the elder brother in the eye with an obviously appreciative look, “Thank you though, Itachi-kun,” her pale hand rubbed along her son’s back as he gurgled baby noises and she turned towards him, “I had hoped to walk home with my husband… but…”

“Another meeting,” Itachi quickly filled the void, he could tell the woman was completely distraught by the whole affair and the effort to keep appearances was exhausting, not to mention she had her newborn to care about. Itachi looked at his newest cousin, thinking the child cute and reminded him of when his little brother was a baby, the thought made him smile a bit wider, “How about we escort you home, Katsuri-san?”

“Nii-ch-” before Sasuke could fully voice his protest; his brother had placed a hand on the young boy’s mouth.

This caused the pale woman’s free hand to rise unconsciously and try futilely to cover her laugh, “That is kind, Itachi-kun, but I don’t think-”

“Nonsense,” the older brother could just _feel_ his brother’s immature glare on the back of his head and desire to argue, “It would be rude of me to allow my clansmen to walk home alone,” his eyes crinkled with the smile he gave, “Especially with such a cute newborn.”

He could see the woman conceding with her eyes, those bright cloudy things that looked him directly in the eye because the woman considered him a friend, “Alright,” she finally gave, but not before turning down, seeing the scowling _little_ Uchiha and a bit of a smirk tugging at her lips, “But on one condition, Itachi-kun.”

A black brow rose on the ANBU, “What condition?”

The woman gave a gentle smirk, before looking down at scowling little boy, “You go train your brother afterwards,” the sparkly cuteness that entered Sasuke’s black eyes as he looked at the woman in an entirely new light was completely worth the flat look the elder brother sent her way.

Itachi was surprised, he never expected such an ‘odd’ condition, and partially expected that if she said such a thing she’d want to watch, but a quick glance at the baby in her arms and he figured that was probably why. Spy or not, there was no way the woman would want to risk her child. His flat black eyes stared down at his brother, all hyper and cute and trying some ridiculous ‘puppy-eyes’ begging technique… he couldn’t help that it actually worked, “Very well,” the older brother poked his young brother on the head, partly to get him to stop that ridiculously cute look, and partly because it was funny to watch as he scowled rubbing his head. His black eyes returned to the woman, light as she seemed to giggle at Sasuke’s grumbling, “shall we then?” he raised his arm, gesturing the woman lead the way.

She gave a light nod, practically a small bow, before turning, “Thank you Itachi,” grey eyes glanced at the teen walking next to her, “for everything.”

“Hn,” the Uchiha heir gave a small shrug… before raising one hand and waggling it in front of the baby, smiling when the little white-haired Uchiha grabbed it.

\-----

A year went by quickly in Itachi’s mind, and while none of his ‘jobs’ seemed to have lessened the disappearances of his clansmen had continued, even if he didn’t really notice as both his father and Danzo continued to blame each other for them. Some of the missing Uchiha were found, eventually, with their heads missing or simply killed on their way to whatever mission, some never showed up at all and assumed deserted publically, either way with each disappearance he found less and less reason to blame the woman he was currently fooling he was her friend.

It was strange that in the last year he had actually felt ‘bad’ about that, especially with the random conversations, catching her walking Naruto to school, which became even funnier when the boy got switched over to his little brother’s class and both he and the white haired woman got an earful of the two children whining about each other. His mother gave him this look practically every morning when he would get up earlier to see that woman and the loudmouthed Jinchuuriki she accompanied instead of his own brother. More than once Itachi had reminded the ex-ANBU the woman was a target, and that he’d be more than willing to take Sasuke with him, his brother needed a friend his age and so did the silly blonde, they’d probably be great together keeping each other busy with arguing, fighting and training so he and Katsuri-san could enjoy a small drink as the two boys went at it. Of course the thought had been completely shot down as his mother would just remind him of his _real_ duty to his clan, and how that woman didn’t count even if her son was barely considered one of them. Itachi would just sigh, tired of the division his own family was putting on itself, and sad that innocent people like his brother and Katsuri had to deal with the brunt of it.

As exhausting and divided as his life became the young Uchiha heir tried to make room for everyone while still doing what was best for the village. His friend Shisui, who was in the same situation as him, tried to joke and tell him to look on the bright side as everything seemed to be coming to a head and all plans were spiraling closer and closer together…

Then there had been the day his best friend had given Itachi one of his eyes and jumped off a cliff…

Something in Itachi had snapped, and after a foolish argument with his father he’d stormed out of the house, his emotions bubbling and the only ‘true’ path set before him…

“I-Itachi-kun?”

The young ANBU’s rage driven mind stilled as a familiar voice called out to him in the middle of the empty street. His eyes had activated on their own from how much he hurt and when he looked at the white haired woman he could see the fear in her eyes… but there was something else hidden underneath it… something he had never seen before…

“Are you alright?” something about her voice was different, the way she moved, the way she acted… it was Katsuri as he had known her, but the inflection, the tone, the tense… it was so small, what was it…

Itachi only narrowed his eyes slightly on her, noticing that despite the obvious fear of his Sharingan she took a step forward and continued to look him directly in the eye. It would be so easy for him to invade her mind with his new Mangekyou, but…

A pale hand reached out and touched the side of his face, and something in her grey eyes shifted, mostly the left one, there was something ‘off’ about the right, “Itachi-kun, what’s wrong?” her thumb brushed along his cheekbone as her brows seemed to still…

“There’s nothing wrong,” he grabbed her hand and removed it from his face, closing his eyes, finally pushing away the thoughts and chakra from his eyes.

The woman looked down, thinking as the young man let go of her wrist after a light tug, “If there is anything you need to talk about…” her grey eyes found his again as he slowly opened pure black eyes, the sincerity he found there was both painful and refreshing, “Please, anything at all… I’ll listen.”

Itachi looked at her, his target, his friend, a pale woman with white hair who’d tried everything to just get others to accept her, who reached out to people without worry or care to herself, and perhaps the only person in this entire village that could read him so easily. For a moment… a small moment… when looking in the woman’s grey eyes he was tempted to tell her everything and ask if she had a different solution then they one he had decided on…

Then he closed his eyes, and looked away, “There is nothing.”

As he turned his back on her and walked away he couldn’t help but notice as she called out to him in a voice that sounded just the slightest bit off, “It won’t change anything,” he paused, looked back just enough to see a stern look in the woman’s eyes he had **_NEVER_** seen there, “Whatever it is you are planning to do, Itachi…” the woman closed her eyes, shaking her head and turning herself, “Nothing will change…”

This time, black eyes watched her leave, and part of him wondered if she _knew_ exactly what he was planning or if this was just another case of him reading his face too well. He was tempted to stop her and ask…

… He didn’t.

Uchiha Itachi turned away, and continued on the path he had chosen.

\-----

It was barely a week later when it finally happened. On a full moon and partially cloudy sky Itachi moved ahead with his plan that would save the village… and destroy his clan. As he moved from house to house ending his family he felt completely numb, the turmoil in his heart was rocky and violent but the mental barriers he had prepared were perfect and shut off everything he could feel from reaching his brain. He watched as his clansmen died by his own hands with the same apathy he did at taking the lives of enemy ninja.

He entered one of the houses of a distant cousin, feeling only two lives inside, one large and of a ninja, the other small and just a baby. He had planned this kill perfectly, taking out only the Uchiha while the woman was away…

She wasn’t one of them, she had no idea about the coup, the clan never trusted her enough to tell her about it and her husband was too much of a moron to trust her the same after the whole fiasco with the birth of _his_ son. But that didn’t matter, as Itachi quickly slid his short blade along the man’s throat while holding his gloved hand over his mouth so the blithering idiot didn’t so much as make a sound as his blood quickly drained on the floor, the young man was looking around the house for where the child was kept.

It was quiet; the middle of the night, and the nearly-a-year old was surprisingly calm despite the death and dread hanging in the air…

As Itachi approached the crib, where the plump baby boy with white hair was sound asleep, he wondered if this ‘calm’ was inherited from his mother…

Sharingan eyes looked down at the boy, examining his every feature, his every detail, and part of his mind was glad to find nothing that reminded him of that piece of meat lying bleeding on the floor in the next room. Itachi gripped his blade, staring at the boy… it was time to end this, and cut that woman’s ties with his cursed clan for good.

“Get away from **_my_** son,” a thick heavy growl lined with enough killing intent to make Itachi actually stumble spoke.

As Sharingan eyes turned to spot the intruder something in Itachi’s mind cracked. It was Katsuri, in form, but nothing about the woman in front of him was his friend. Her grey eyes were sharp, deadlier then steel and pointed right at him. She didn’t have the demure, weak stance anymore, her shoulders were back, she was standing up straight, and her entire body was a wound tight spring ready to snap at any moment with deadly fury. He managed a glance away from her face, seeing she was wearing that old kimono from her homeland, and in her left hand was a knife he had never seen before…

“ _With a knife._ ”

Danzo’s words seemed to haunt the young ANBU as he now realized what he was looking at. The paranoid bastard had been right, with nothing but a gut feeling the sonvabitch had been right, “So… this is the _real_ you?”

Those sharp grey eyes remained on him, a wolf stalking her prey that dared to point a blade at her pup. The woman… the _assassin_ in front of him had no fear, no care, no worry, nothing about her was readable beyond the absolute cold rage burning in her eyes.

Itachi breathed out, finally releasing his surprise. This woman… this _assassin_ … she had perfectly fooled the entire village, had fooled him… even now, looking at her, he didn’t know if she had done anything Danzo claimed she had yet her true nature was staring him right in the face. She had revealed herself, on her own whim, to him, someone who after tonight _couldn’t_ warn the village about her… so why?

Sharingan eyes stared into those cold grey ones…

… and in an instant they moved.

But where Itachi had thought he’d cut the woman’s throat open, he quickly realized it was only an afterimage. – _Who uses techniques like that?_ \- He turned to see the woman holding her son her arm, looking at him softly even if the rest of her still rigid and eking of cruelty. The boy was awake, and yet despite the amount of killing intent the woman was pouring out, enough that bothered even an ANBU captain like Itachi, he just smiled, giggling at his mother as she raised her blade hand just to let him grab one of her fingers.

It was a jarring picture, one that thanks to the Sharingan’s photographic properties Itachi would remember every single detail of for the rest of his life. The most efficient killer he had ever seen, that while he was _assuming_ that, the woman’s killer intent and mannerisms told him she was a veteran far beyond his skills, not to mention he couldn’t even track her movement in that last attack _WITH_ his Sharingan active… and here she was, being… _motherly_ to her child, in the middle of a battle… as if it was perfectly comfortable for the both of them.

“Itachi,” the woman’s low yet stern voice called to him, nothing in that voice, same as nothing in her appearance was Katsuri’s. his Sharingan went straight to her steel colored eyes, this was a woman that was serious, and if she wanted to, she could have easily killed him at any moment, “I am leaving,” her placid white brows lowered just the slightest in the middle, “ ** _with_** my son.”

Before Itachi could so much as protest the woman made a single seal with her blade hand and several explosions went off around the house, quickly catching it on fire.

In an instant the former ANBU captain was outside the house. It was ablaze in seconds and he couldn’t feel the woman anywhere. She was gone, with an Uchiha child… - _No_ \- the young man shook his head as he stood up, preparing himself to continue with his mission. – _She said it herself…_ \- Sharingan eyes looked away from the blaze, it would catch on the surrounding houses, destroying evidence, and killing others, “That boy is **_her_** son, not ours…”

Despite himself, the man that would be labeled responsible for the ‘Uchiha Massacre’ smiled.

\-----

Yue and Kimyou stared at the screen.

In front of the two ex-ANBU R&D scientists was a scene being displayed where their charge had just not only thoroughly beat one of Konoha’s strongest without touching him, but a firsthand account of what they knew was going to become big news in the not too distant future.

The Uchiha Clan was being wiped out by one of their own.

A shutter ran down both body experts’ spine.

“Kim,” the woman’s voice spoke lightly, “Get up, and go inform the Raikage…”

The buff man simply turned to look at his technical ‘boss’ as the woman’s eyes were as wide as his own but still stuck on the screen, “Yue-”

“I SAID GO INFORM THE RAIKAGE!!” the woman turned on him in an instant, fury laced into her eyes as both of them tried to ignore the tears.

His jaw tightened but his dark brown eyes did not falter, they both knew what this meant; their mission was over, their charge had ‘failed’ effectively. But that wasn’t everything… what they were looking at, what it meant for the Shinobi world… who knew what kind of impact this would have on everything, and they were the first people to witness it in the Land of Lightning. He gave a firm nod, standing up, eyes still on his co-worker, “Hai,” as he turned his hand trembled, almost wanting to grab the woman’s shoulder and tell her everything would be okay. He didn’t, “What are you going to do?”

Yue shuttered as she leaned forward, hitting dials and switches and making the screen do flips, “I’m going to continue doing our job,” everything stopped for a solitary moment as she stilled, “Then I’m going to figure out a way to inform Section S that the Uchiha have been effectively wiped out…”

\-----

Meshii – Blind Man, Fuwa – Blindly Following others

Aoi- Blue, Yama- Mountain, Aoiyama – Blue Mountain

Kechi – miser, tightwad

Michio – from ‘Michi’ – method

\-----


	8. Given Conditions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kemui returns and she's not alone...

_Clunk… clunk…_

A strange shumbling sound was the first thing they recognized.

_Clunk…_

With each slow step, whoever it was on the other side of the cloud cover halted, shuffled, then seemed to persist in moving forward, not out of any true desire, but resignation.

_Clunk…_

Naota kept dark blue eyes on the shade coming across the bridge, something not feeling right.

_Clunk._

There was a moment, a very small, very minute moment when the chuunin could have sworn they heard a chuckle.

The chain of the bridge rattled, and while they all had become used to the shifts and sways of the monstrously ostentatious futility that was their main gate, something about that one small jolt set something off in the dark haired chuunin’s mind. Without hesitation Naota raised the tanto in their hands, spreading their chakra into the cloudy mist around them ready to suffocate the intruder at the slightest possible moment…

Then there was some kind of cry.

“Shh… hush, we’re almost there…”

A dark blue eye twitched, hell all of Naota twitched, that wasn’t right… that _couldn’t_ be right!

“Nao-tan?” Taro’s surprisingly hushed voice called to his partner. The androgynous chuunin was still apart from very small ticks that if the large man hadn’t worked with them so long he never would have noticed. The fact they were on guard was one thing, should have been normal, but something about the setting was setting them off… and that voice in the clouds-

“Taro,” the low voice clipped, “get the head of R&D, the Raikage, I don’t care…” there was a moment they swallowed hard as the muscles in Naota’s jaw tightened visibly, “I want confirmation of the Assassin’s status…”

“Nao-”

“Do it.” was all the smaller chuunin had to say and their partner was gone. The gate didn’t raise, the clouds didn’t part, the wind didn’t move, the man was simply gone in an instant, doing what they had commanded.

And in that fraction of an instant after everything about the chuunin crumbled…

“What are you doing here?” with barely a flicker of their chakra the cloudy mist hazing the world around them halted, receding just enough for Naota to get a good look at the woman they all thought was dead.

Grey eyes rose slowly, turning for the first time from the ground of the bridge to the sole person standing between her and the gate. The woman breathed out slowly, glancing away, something dead… tired… in those eyes as they looked away. Nothing about her cadence spoke of the familiar grace and ethereal immortal brutality the chuunin had come to associate with the woman, in front of them was a nobody. No spine, no stance, no… care… an apathy their dark eyes just could **_not_** associate with the woman known as the ‘Last’ assassin.

“Let me pass,” was all her soft broken voice spoke.

Dark brows lowered over glasses as the tanto in their hands rose again, “Who are you?”

Those deadened eyes rose again, looking at them as if in a haze, “You know who I am…”

The grip on the blades tightened, their lips pressed in a tight line, “I know the woman you _look_ like…” the involuntary snarl barely missed the assassin’s notice, “… and what I’m looking at is not _her_.”

Something about the statement set a small spark in the woman’s deadened eyes, suddenly her stature seemed to gain an extra inch and her shoulders were straighter. For the briefest of moments she almost looked like who she should be, “Let me through.”

Dark blue eyes narrowed as the grimace on their face lengthened, “For a second you looked like her,” suddenly Naota lowered the blades, removing the tension in their stance and standing straight but in no way relaxed, “Besides, the woman I respect would know I need confirmation, your… _arrival_ ,” something about the way they spoke the word made it sound chewed on, “… is unscheduled, far too early, and most importantly…” everything about the androgynous chuunin stilled just so they could stare the woman directly in the face to say the last words, “You’re dead.”

Out of nowhere the woman gave a chuckled that sounded like a dead sigh.

This caused the chuunin to raise a brow, most people when told they’re ‘dead’ don’t laugh so depressingly, and as far as they were concerned this woman didn’t ‘laugh’ period.

“Am I now?” somehow the ‘dead’ chuckle grew a bit, no less haunting and in no way jovial, “I suppose they assumed the worst when I cut the feed…” her eyes closed in an almost self-depreciating snort, “though I suppose I _did_ die in a way…”

The dark brow curled on the chuunin’s forehead deeper… was that… was that sarcasm?

The white haired ghostly woman finally stopped that disturbing ‘chuckle’ and gave a deep long sigh, “I suppose I would have to wait then, for someone to confirm I am me…” half-lidded grey eyes, both sharper than they had been yet still softer then Naota could accept stared directly at the lone chuunin.

After a moment or two of being slightly freaked out by the gaze, the younger person grimaced, “is there something wrong?”

“Everything,” was that a light… _smile_ on the woman’s face? “Though since I am detained here, I had thought to ask you a question,” again that sharp yet soft look in those grey eyes as they zeroed in on the chuunin’s dark blue ones, “Why are you still a chuunin?”

Dark blue eyes blinked, “are…” blink again for good measure, “Are you serious?”

The woman’s white brows seemed to tilt up in the middle as if to answer the question, Naota mildly noticed her bouncing something behind her back but decided to ignore that odd detail for the moment.

… Since at the present moment they were left just staring at the woman confused. If ever a moment for their pale face to hit sturdy hundreds of years old wooden boards…

“T-that…” Naota closed their eyes and shook their head before looking at the woman again, bouncing, “I didn’t want a ‘complicated’ life…” at the raised white brow the chuunin turned, slightly looking away but keeping the white woman in their peripheries, “… nothing like what you seem to have.”

“I see,” Naota missed the small nod as the woman closed her eyes, speaking again lowly and softly, “I’m sorry…”

That one phrase had something flicker in Naota’s eyes as they turned back on the woman, still with her eyes closed but something about her was definitely more recognizable, “What?”

Those grey eyes opened slowly, not focusing on the chuunin particularly but staring at the dead space between them as if there was something there only she could see, “… about your partner,” a sudden life came back to those eyes as they flicked directly to the chuunin’s dark blue ones, “I never said anything before… ‘I’m sorry’.”

Unconsciously the chuunin’s knuckles became white around their tanto and their jaw clinched, “Eight years and you suddenly decide to say something **_now_** …” there was a fury and rage hidden in those deep pools, a swell of coursing emotions that never quite found their outlet, all of a sudden given a target.

Kemui stared straight into those eyes, the same ones, like many others in the village, she remembered seeing that night, “Yes…” she said slowly, images of the night she murdered her clan and watching Itachi kill his own merged together in her mind as she stared at the chuunin’s barely contained emotions, ones she didn’t know if she should feel or not, “… now.”

 Unable to take the ‘ _look_ ’ in the woman’s eyes any longer, Naota couldn’t help but shut their eyes tightly and look away. That wasn’t the look from that night, that wasn’t the look they saw on the woman’s face every other day since… it was wrong, so, so wrong, “how do you do it?” their voice croaked out before the words even crossed their mind, “How do you live with yourself every day with what you’ve done?” dark blue eyes filled with solemn disbelief stared directly at the assassin, “how-?”

“I know the rumors,” there was a flat tone to the woman’s voice, “Some of them are true, others completely false,” the small bite at the end of the word made it obvious what she thought of those, “I **_did_** kill my clan, they **_were_** going to kill the current Raikage, I acted without his consent, and no,” for a moment those sharp grey eyes closed and her voice came out even softer, “No… there is no justification…” when her eyes reopened they were solemn and soft, almost ashamed to look at the chuunin, “It didn’t change a damn thing…”

And like that all the angst and resentment that had built up in Naota in the last moments of the woman’s confession evaporated and they saw her for all she was… they sighed, “I could never hate you,” they admitted, “As much as I wanted to…” a shake of the head, “I never could,” when Naota looked up the woman was staring at them, something small and fragile in her eyes hidden under everything else, “you didn’t enjoy killing her, and there was no apathy… you carried each death with you, giving more meaning to her death then she ever felt in life…” something tight pulled at the muscles around their eyes, but Naota wouldn’t cry, there was no reason to and they’d done enough years ago, “Because of that I could only ever respect you,” they looked away, “I won’t forgive you though…”

Out of the corner of their eye, the chuunin could see the white woman give a curt shake of the head, she wasn’t asking for forgiveness. Never even considered it.

Naota glanced sidelong at the older woman, for some reason that fact making itself known in their mind. Shinobi never seemed to truly ‘age’, sure the hair grayed, and they got a few stress lines, but overall from either generations of physical upkeep or simply good health practices they never particularly got ‘old’ physically… it was the eyes mostly that showed a person’s age in their world. You aged by how many you killed, the more you killed, the older you got quicker… Naota wondered momentarily if that’s why instead of less than a decade separating them they felt she was an ancestor from an age gone by, “How do you keep on going?” their voice held no malice, no rage, no inflection really but there seemed purpose enough for the woman to look at the chuunin, “… You know the village fears you, the Raikage’s personal assassin, the only person to get away with mass genocide and remain **_in_** their village…”

“The previous Raikage was much more prolific then I ever was,” it felt like there should have been a sigh at the end of her statement, but when Naota looked the woman was only staring off into the clouds beyond the side of the bridge, “And ‘yes’, I know many still harbor ill-will, even hatred, for my actions, same as any would expect,” the words were so mechanical the chuunin could only stare, “though I think most are simply confused, not knowing what it was for… if they remember at all…” there was a long pause as those grey eyes just stared at nothing in the distance and the chuunin wondered if the woman even remembered they were there.

“Still,” Naota finally sheathed their blades, standing next to the oddly ‘chatty’ woman, joining her in her gaze at the grey nothing of clouds, “all that hate, fear…” dark blue eyes went down, almost ashamed, “Even admiration for such an… _accomplishment_ …” a slight glance to the still woman, “… how does it garner barely a response from you?”

“ _We_ think differently,” was the automatic response but when Naota looked over there was something running across the woman’s face that the chuunin couldn’t recognize as those cloudy eyes turned down for a long moment. What passed her eyes were thoughts they could not decipher but once the moment was over she looked off in the distance again, still giving barely any recognition they were even there, “Every morning I stare at myself in the mirror for ten seconds…”

Naota bit back the desire to question, waiting for her to continue.

“… If I can do that, no one else can hurt me,” she turned on the chuunin, cold grey eyes only half-way staring at them gazed from the woman’s pale face, “Because there is no one in this village that hates me more than myself.”

Before Naota could even fathom a response the white woman walked passed them. A jerk on the bridge and that familiar groan of old chains and heavy metal signaled that the gate was opening. Vaguely they could hear Taro making some comment, someone else, probably from R&D greeting the woman, but all of that blurred in the dark haired chuunin’s mind as they slowly turned, trying to fully grasp the woman’s meaning…

That’s when they saw the little white haired baby sleeping in a wrap attached to the woman’s back…

Dark blue eyes just stared and once again their mouth ran before their brain could stop it, “K-Kemui-san!” the woman had already caught up with the R&D rep, but momentarily she glanced at the chuunin with her left eye over her shoulder. Naota was frozen by the look, not sure what the hell they were trying to say… then dark blue eyes glanced at the white haired child, and back at the woman’s sharp eye, “That child…?”

“A Foundling…” was her clipped response, as she turned back and walked over the threshold with the R&D rep, quickly followed by the familiar slamming of the gate, blocking everything from view.

Naota just stared… after all the woman just said… to think…

A large hand came down on the smaller chuunin’s shoulder, which they gave a terrible start and glanced back with a startled blush only to find Taro grinning, “Hey, Nao-tan, you okay?” his grin slipped slightly as the larger hand squeezed their partner’s shoulder, “Ya seem kinda… freaked?”

Their mouth opened but nothing came out, they closed it and tried again only to get the same result. After several failed attempts and repeats of this cycle and Taro’s eyebrow just rising higher and higher the chuunin just shook their head, looking away, “forget it…”

The larger brown haired man frowned slightly as their partner looked away, he didn’t let go though, just staring at the back of their head while gripping their shoulder, “Sure… whatever you say,” he gave another squeeze for good measure, some things words just could not say.

\-----

There was a knock on the door.

Kemui turned from her task of folding her belongings just enough to get a sense of the person that just entered her old room in the Raikage’s tower. Massive reserves, massive presence… no sense of ‘reservation’ yet not wholly wild and without control. The smallest of smiles picked at the edge of her lips, even if she had wanted to avoid this meeting just a while longer…

“Lord Raikage,” the woman spoke softly without facing the man, an odd reversal from their normal routine.

Jinrai watched the woman’s back a moment, a pout slightly tugging on his lip but not obvious as he stood by the closed door. Two and a half years… sure it was abrupt, her return after R&D had lost communication, the news of the ‘Uchiha Massacre’ spreading far and wide, other nations and supporters in Rai pushing for some action since Konoha had lost a significant power-base… so much bullshit that went straight out the window the second his eyes fell on the small pale woman.

The large man’s mouth opened to speak but no words came out, his beady black eyes were stuck on her but he couldn’t decide how to address her. The woman in front of him, with her back to him in fact, was… resigned; her motions small and she’d yet to look at him directly. There wasn’t a fire there nor the stiff reservation of something dangerous underneath… she seemed… weak, and that just didn’t make sense in his mind.  Without thinking his large hand had reached into the space between them-

-When a small movement caught his attention out of the corner of his eye.

There was that feeling of his presence crawling along the back of her neck, the primitive feeling that told any combatant someone was looking their way. Using her senses alone she could almost read the expressions on his face, how his chakra fluctuated with his turning thoughts, his still movements and confusion. A thin line pressed on Kemui’s lips. – _This is why I didn’t want to see you…_ \- a pale hand clutched the robe in her hand, grey eyes staring into the middle ground. – _I don’t know what to say just as much as you…_ \- and just as her jaw clinched, ashamed at this… whatever it was that had her mind all screwed up a sound crossed her ears. Her head tilted on instinct and when she finally registered what exactly it was grey eyes went wide and she turned in an instant.

Standing in front of her, in the middle of her room was a man she had personally seen crush mountains and in his monstrous hands was her son, the chubby year old baby boy reaching up to grab the man’s other hand that could so easily crush him.

Grey eyes were wide, her hands dropped, just staring…

A small smile passed the Raikage’s lips as he looked at the tiny white haired baby staring up at his massive by comparison hands, trying to grip just one of his fingers with both of his own. An almost chuckle released itself as he could feel the boy grab hold, grinning as he squeezed as tight as he could on the captive appendage. – _Strong… just like his mother…_ \- at the thought of the small white woman his gaze left the boy and traveled directly to his mother, the mere sight of her knocking the mighty Oni out of his trance.

She looked horrified, as if not knowing which of them was more terrifying, him or-

The Raikage looked back at the boy, his smile gone and lips in a slight frown. – _Right…_ \- he removed his hand from the child’s grasp garnering a small protest as he stepped forward, “Looks to me,” beady black eyes raised enough to catch the woman’s downcast ones, “like you don’t trust me,” unconsciously his arm tightened the smallest bit on the boy, “Holding… your son.”

Pale hands tightened into fists and the woman purposely looked away, he didn’t need to see her face to know her white brows were low.

The Raikage stood barely a foot from the woman, her son easily within her sight. The large Oni of a man half expected the woman to take the child from his arms and rush out of the room… what she really did he expected even more.

In the time it takes to breath the Assassin had drawn her blade and held it a scant inch from the boy’s throat, the baby blissfully unaware of the meaning of the shiny object moments away from cutting him open.

“I can’t…” the knife twitched as the Raikage watched her still cast down head, “I c-can’t do it…” her right hand went to the left, gripping her armed hand tightly, shaking the blade all the more. The large blonde man couldn’t tell if the woman was trying to press the blade down or pull it away, the confliction in her actions so obvious, “I can’t do it on my own!” in an instant grey eyes were on him, asking him, begging him to tell her what to do in this instant.

Gouzen Jinrai could count on his hand the number of times he had seen tears in the white haired woman’s eyes, she didn’t cry, never that he’d seen, there were just times tears would form and even rarer that they would fall. So suddenly seeing his friend _crying_ as she held a knife to her own son’s throat, _in_ his arms no less…

The muscles between his eyes moved his brows up and that’s as far as he remembered about the expression he must have given the woman, before his arm reached out, grabbed the back of her head and pulled her toward him. She must have lowered her hands on her own because he didn’t feel the cold blade on his skin nor smelled any blood. A small part of his mind had to laugh at that – _She’s an Assassin…she is always aware of where her blade is pointing_ …-

“What do I do…?” a choked mumble escaped between them as his hand absently rubbed her loose white hair, “I’m supposed to kill him,” a deep intake and he could feel the tears on his skin, “There aren’t supposed to be any others… I swore…” there was a sudden clang as the woman dropped her weapon. For as long as the Raikage had known the woman she never just ‘ _dropped_ ’ that blade, if it was out she was holding it, or had given it to someone like that cat with the Nibi… she never just _discarded_ it like that… then she gripped his robe and he knew why she’d let go, “ _Jin_ … tell me what to do… please…”

His hand lowered, tracing her loose white hair to the pony tail for the longer strands at her neck and moved to wrap her further in his arm and finally grip her shoulder as he leaned as far down to her as he could, “Raise him,” he could feel her whole body still as a small frown tugged on his lips, “You saved this boy for a reason,” he let the small woman lean back when she pushed, her grey eyes wide and just staring. The tightness of his frown increased but for some reason he could feel something pick at the edge of his lips, “it would be worthless to kill him now…” for whatever reason the imposing man smiled.

Grey eyes shimmered; just staring at him for what felt like the longest time before the woman forcefully broke away, running a hand over her face as she breathed in deeply. Kemui was not a woman that broke easily, in fact as far as he knew this was the first time he’d seen it.

– _Though… there was that time…_ \- the first time he had seen her after killing his father she had seemed like a shell of the woman he had known. He didn’t know what happened, just that she had been there after the fight and was the last thing he saw before passing out… then when he came to two days later the woman he knew was gone, all that was left was ‘Kemui’. Bee had said she stayed until he was unconscious then left, probably to deal with her own loss on her own…

A large hand reached out, encompassing the woman’s shoulder as she calmed down facing away from him, composing herself.

Did the Uchiha Massacre dredge up memories? Was she mistreated on her mission? Did more happen then the piddle of information R&D sent him, comprising mostly of ‘she’s alive’ and ‘working on her targets’? He’d known about the child, after a catatonic Yugito had informed him during the briefing and he’d gone to R&D himself, but they’d told him it wasn’t ‘pertinent information’, he didn’t **_need_** to know what he had sent his friend through when he sent her off on a mission, for **_them_** , which wasn’t even her specialty!!

That large hand tightened on her shoulder as he felt the woman shake, “Satsuki…” there was an odd hope in his voice as he spoke her name, her _other_ name that had become lost after that day long ago. She turned enough to look at him with one grey eye over her shoulder, her hand still holding the lower part of her face and tears still threatening to fall, but she was looking at him and not an ounce of scorn for the name. His fingertips pressed into the fabric of her old kimono, “Are you still with me?”

White brows rose apologetically, that visible grey eye shimmering again before she faced forward, her body relaxing as an audible sigh escaped, “Yes…” her voice was so fragile and soft, “I’m still here…”

He shook her shoulder, a small grin picking at his lips, “Good,” he patted her shoulder before letting her go, the white haired woman turning to him reflexively after the lost contact, “Because there’s still a lot we have to do and I need my best subordinate functional.”

The edge of the woman’s lip twitched, “Of course, Lord Raikage,” her voice was still fragile but the woman turned fully towards him, slipping her hands into her long sleeves and glancing down at her son who seemed perfectly content in the large man’s hand. Without warning a light laugh left her at the scene, the large and threatening Raikage, holding a baby in one hand.

“What?” his voice was flat as she saw his dark skin pout, his free hand setting on his hip making him look that much more ridiculous.

She bit her lower lip trying not to laugh at how ridiculous it made him look, feeling it was even more inappropriate with how she had acted previously. Grey eyes glanced to the side, trying to spare the woman the scene, “You look ridiculous…”

The pout spread, “and you look tired,” that had those grey flash back on him and it was the woman’s turn to almost pout, a smirk picked at the large man’s lips, “I’m trying to decide what to do with you…”

A white brow rose, “Lord Raikage?”

The large Oni of a man bounced, moving his arm specifically with the baby boy causing a gurgle of a giggle from the year-old, “This boy is special, he’s going to need his mother around to watch him…”

The shift on the white woman’s face was immediate, from almost jovial to shamed, “Of course,” her voice was low as she looked away, “An almost pure-blood Uchiha-”

“That’s not what I meant,” there was a growl in the large man’s voice that drew Kemui’s attention immediately, he was frowning with those beady black eyes boring into her, “I could give a fuck less about this boy’s parentage,” there was a definite growl as grey eyes blinked at him. The Raikage looked down at the white haired boy, looking up at him with curious black eyes as he raised his other hand, feeling Kemui momentarily tense then relax as all he did was rough up the boy’s white hair, “He’s _your_ son,” those black eyes turned to the woman as she faced him, “even if he’s only half of you, that’s more than enough to make him one hell of a fighter…”

She gave him a barely perceptible smile, “Flattery doesn’t suit you,” then looked away, ignoring his pout. Without realizing it a large weight had been lifted from her shoulders, if there was one thing that had worried the white woman about returning it was how her Lord would react to her son, a child that despite her wishes she couldn’t find it in herself to harm. She glanced back at the large man, wiggling a large meaty finger in the boy’s vicinity causing him to laugh as he grabbed at it. The whole time she was pregnant she told herself, her _true_ self, she would end the child’s life once the mission was complete, he was only a means to an end and that was all… the second she’d seen the boy, being handed to her by Itachi as he was the only one that had been with her when her quick labor had struck, and she saw the boy’s small bit of white hair… something in her had shifted. No one in her family had looked like her, not her parents, not the other clan members, no body. Her colorings had been wrong since she was born and had been why she was called ‘bastard’ even though her parents had assured her she was theirs. When the Uchiha had **_dared_** to call her son the same… a fire had roared in her that threatened her entire charade, she would have killed Fugaku and the entire council right then and there if Itachi hadn’t distracted them all. Even if her lies to the boy had been utterly false concerning her lineage, it made her wonder about her child… wonder if his ‘oddity’, same as her own was why she couldn’t strike him down, more than him just being her flesh and blood. When she dared to think about it, she wondered if this was a sign of the dormant ‘wolf blood’ in her Reki had told her about, meaning her son truly was the same as her…

She watched the Raikage play with her son, bringing her thoughts back to the present as he had this odd grin while her son tried catching his fingers, “Since when did you become a doting father?”

A pout spread across his face as his eyes narrowed on the woman, “Had some practice,” he raised the boy above his head much to the shrieks and giggles of the fearless boy. The Raikage could feel his Assassin cringe again. – _She really does care about him… even if she doesn’t realize it…_ \- part of him grinned at that, while another wasn’t sure what to think. He tossed the boy up and caught him, much to _his_ amusement, but knew he was treading a fine line with his subordinate. – _Would she attack me?_ \- it was a valid thought, one that in any other situation he’d never consider, but in this one… catching the boy and looking at the near-frantic glimpse in the woman’s sharp eyes… he actually welcomed the thought. With a smirk the large Oni of a man held the boy out, offering him back to his mother, “You still look like you don’t trust me…”

There was a barely there frown as she took back her son, holding him so he looked over one shoulder, before glancing at her lord again, “I trust you,” she said cryptically walking towards the bed, “I just don’t trust myself…” the white haired woman set the child down back where the Raikage had originally garbed him, setting him on his back and looking him over, then she tickled him and gave a light smile as she squirmed before standing back straight and facing her lord. There was an amused look on the man’s face, one she glowered at, “What?”

A smile cracked his face as he ran a hand absently over his goatee, “just wondering when you became a worried mother?”

Grey eyes glared flatly as she walked around the bed, back towards her packing, “I had some practice,” she mirrored his words, ignoring the grin on the Oni’s face.

The Raikage smirked as she went back to what she’d been doing, he wandered to the edge of the bed sitting down, glancing back at the little boy who seemed to be gnawing on a pillow, “So…” beady black eyes glanced at the woman’s back, finding it strange to find her long white hair just down and not in its normal three thin braids, “Going to tell me about Konoha?”

Her actions paused only momentarily at his question before brushing it off and continuing her task, “It’ll all be in my report once I confer with R&D about the transcriptions and relevant data…” she didn’t have to look at the large man to feel the pout.

And pout he did, “I wasn’t asking for a report,” beady black eyes glanced back at the white haired baby who seemed to be looking at him too. The large Raikage poked him in the foot garnering a childish giggle, “Was just asking a friend how her time was in a foreign village, if anything interesting happened,” out of the corner of his eyes he could see her stiffen again and his smirk grew, “Aside from having a kid, of course…”

A flat steel colored glared was leveled the large man’s way as all he did was grin. She kept it up for all of a minute before sighing in defeat, what would be the harm? “I can tell you they’re all crazy,” a blonde brow piqued on the man as he looked at her while still absently playing with her son. Her grey eyes glanced at the giggling baby a moment and some of her frostiness melted, “Would you believe me if I said the sanest people I met there were a blind minstrel, a clan-killer and their Jinchuuriki?”

Blonde brow rose higher, “Interesting friends,” he fiddled with the baby’s foot, “I take it the ‘clan-killer’ was Uchiha Itachi?” he watched the woman out of the corner of his eye, gauging her reaction, “The one responsible for the ‘Uchiha Massacre’, or so they claim?”

Her face was stone but she nodded, “He was probably the only one in their ANBU I could respect, coming so close to figuring me out,” there was a light chuckle as she crossed her arms and leaned back on the table, “Though I think he got too close and stopped caring about my identity as his higher ups kept tugging him in too many directions…”

The Raikage watched her, knowing he had to phrase his next words correctly, “So he didn’t just crack and kill his family?”

Hollow grey eyes rose just enough to look at the large man sitting on her bed, “No,” there was a light sigh, “Like I said, he was one of the sanest people I met there…” the large Oni could tell she was gripping her elbows tightly in her sleeves, trying to suppress more latent emotions, “it was _those_ people, who **_ordered_** him to do it… then blamed him for it…”

The large man frowned, measuring the words to say. He didn’t need to be a mind-reading to understand the implications, and he understood even more why such a thing was affecting the woman so much, coupled with the _issues_ of her own son, “You tried to stop him, didn’t you?”

Grey met black and he knew it to be true, “I made my choice… he was forced into his…”

There was a nod from the dark skinned Oni, accepting her words as an end to that thread, “Was there anyone that actually caught you?”

Oddly the woman had a light smirk picking at the end of her lips, “Only one, Shimura Danzo…”

The Raikage froze, that was an old and infamous name. None of their spies could get much information on the old man, but he had been a former teammate of the current Hokage, and everything the man did was ruthless. Beady black eyes turned slowly on the small woman, making sure she understood how serious mentioning that name was, “Are you sure?”

Steel looked back at him, just as serious, “I would be a fool to think he didn’t know the second I stepped into that village,” her eyes closed as she considered the amount of information she’d managed to get, more from her own instincts and observations then anything actually concrete, “If I had to guess, that man is the head of the secondary ANBU forces that tailed me constantly,” steel opened and stared at the Raikage, “that man is responsible for _those_ assassins…”

There was a nod from the Raikage, accepting that ‘unofficial’ bit of the report he was sure to get later. If this was just a _small_ bit she was willing to tell a ‘friend’, he was almost unsure what the full-length report would entail. The large man glanced at the small white haired baby, he seemed to be staring with those curious black eyes right at him, his wiggling and noises having ceased almost as if he knew just how serious the situation around him had become. Part of the big Oni wondered if that was something from his mother, he reached out and fiddled with the boy’s foot, garnering a smile if nothing else before turning back to the white haired woman who seemed to have been watching him, as she looked slightly more relaxed then her posture was a moment ago, “So tell me about this Jinchuuriki?”

A white brow rose as she glanced from her son to her Lord, “An interesting kid,” there was that distinct sigh like she was about to complain, garnering a small grin from the Raikage, “Though again I have no idea what Konoha is thinking, the boy doesn’t even know _what_ he is, let alone _who_ he is…” the scowl of irritation made it quite obvious the woman did **_not_** approve of the wasted potential the foreign village was ignoring.

The Raikage kept grinning, “Oh, so there’s more than just him being a Jinchuuriki?”

Grey eyes flatly glared at the man, more in her own annoyance then actually any negativity towards the man as he reached back and played with her son, “Aside from the fact his name is ‘Uzumaki’ and he’s their Jinchuuriki, which isn’t _that_ surprising considering the last two,” there was a deep sigh, “But honestly, the boy is a carbon copy of the Fourth Hokage…”

“The Yellow Flash?” **_That_** had the Raikage’s attention, “That boy, their Jinchuuriki, is the Yellow Flash’s son?”

The white haired woman gave a curt nod, “I would bet _your_ life on it, Lord Raikage,” the two shared a smirk. During a previous war, long before he’d decided to end it with his Father’s death and take over, the young and brash Gouzin Jinrai had several encounters with the man considered the ‘fastest’ of all shinobi. Jinrai had proven otherwise, and Kemui had shadowed him to observe the man’s technique, and keep her Lord safe. Between the two of them they’d recognized it wasn’t _real_ speed the man employed but teleportation, something that once Jin understood that could counter, since he truly was the _Fastest_ Shinobi alive. According to the two of them, the only reason the man was still alive was because Jinrai had wanted to face him on equal footing as a Kage… so it was quite an upset the news that the man had died fighting the Kyuubi nearly a year before he’d taken the hat.

But now news the man had had a son?

A vicious grin spread on the Raikage, “Tell me there’s a reason you didn’t bring the brat back with you?”

The woman leveled a flat glare with the suddenly excited man, “Aside from the abrupt ending of my mission, evacuation of myself and my son, and the hordes of ANBU, both normal and secondary that watch the boy constantly?”

The only response the big man had was a pout, “You could have gotten through all that…”

There was a tired sigh as his response, “six years ago I could have,” she shrugged, letting her shoulders lower more than normal, “I don’t think I could have pulled it off then, not to mention keeping both him and my son safe on the road,” steel eyes cut back to the man as he continued to pout, “And while I could get away with those fools thinking ‘Uchiha Katsuri’ and her son died with the rest of the Uchiha in the massacre, I don’t think there’d be any explanation for why their Jinchuuriki suddenly disappeared… they’d either blame him for the massacre or come after us, looking _too_ closely and realizing the bodies I’d left weren’t of me and my son,” there was a light frown on her face as she looked down, truly upset with her own decision, “I wouldn’t doubt Danzo would start a war with the vague information he’d had…” a deep sigh, “Not to mention how insecure the other villages would feel about us having three Jinchuuriki…”

The Raikage was looking at her serious, “They’d really blame a kid for the massacre like that?”

The woman gave him a sad look, “They’d believe that over testimony, evidence, and Itachi admitting it himself…”

A frown spread on the large man, “Those people really are idiots,” he crossed his monstrous arms, “It’s too bad, would have liked to have another around, or someone that’s a real challenge,” he rubbed his goatee in thought, ignoring the woman’s flat look, “Stealth was paramount, keeping those idiots uninformed,” he glanced at the white haired woman, “And you’re safe, along with this one,” he nudged towards the boy with his shoulder, “We’ll just have to think of something for catching the boy later…”

The white woman sighed, “You never give up do you?”

The large man clapped his hands on his knees as he stood up, “I’ll never stop, until everything that can threaten my village is ours or destroyed.”

All Kemui could do was give a slight smirk and quick nod, “Of course, Lord Raikage.”

“Hmm,” he was back to rubbing his goatee while staring at the woman, “I think I figured out what to do with you…” a white brow rose as his only response as the large man turned fully towards the woman, “I don’t want you doing any more external missions until you fully recover from this one…”

Grey eyes went wide as the woman’s protest was immediate, “Lord Raik-!”

A large hand held up stopped any further protest, “You need it, this isn’t up for debate,” he could see the defiant frown and spark in her eyes, but just speaking with her now he could tell this mission affected her more then she would probably ever admit. He smirked, “That’s why I have a different mission for you, within the village,” her grey eyes narrowed on him but she didn’t’ protest further, “You’re still registered as a Jounin of this village,” white brow rose puzzled as his grin widened, “and while I’ve never previously enforced this, I will now, Jounin are required at some point to train others…”

“I’m not taking a team,” the woman looked like a bristling animal with her hair on end.

“I’m not asking you to,” the large man smirked as he walked towards her, “Besides, there’s only one person I’d trust you to train properly,” the look in his eyes softened as hers did too, both of them knowing full well who the large man was talking about, “No, for now, you’ll be providing extra training to the entire Shinobi forces…”

Grey eyes blinked, unable to fully understand what he just said, “what?”

The Raikage was smirking evilly, enjoying the perplexed look on the normally so composed woman’s face, “There’s been a recommendation from the R&D staff that observed your mission, as well as one from the Commander of ANBU, with full endorsement from Reki,” the woman was just staring not understand what he was saying, his smirk grew, “As well as my own endorsement after watching your subordinates in action…”

“ _Jin_ ,” the woman practically growled his name, getting irritated he wasn’t getting to the _point_ of what she would apparently be doing.

The smirk would not leave his face, “From now on, until I feel it is necessary or we have the adequate forces to further train without you, you will be in charge of training the entire Shinobi forces on advanced Intelligence gathering and Counter-Intelligence techniques.”

Grey eyes blinked, “What?”

“While you were away your subordinates managed to catch spies that ANBU missed,” he pointed at the woman, “While on your mission you managed to go two and a half years without suspicion or notice aside from a highly paranoid few, and even then there is nothing concrete to place you there or even validate it was **_you_** that was there,” he smirked as all she could do was blink, “Therefore I want our entire forces at least **_aware_** of these techniques, if not capable of pulling them off…”

Grey eyes continued to blink, “But Lord Raikage, they aren’t ‘techniques’,” white brows furrowed as she gauged the man, “What I did, what I taught my subordinates, those were _simple_ , _basic_ things I knew to look for, and did not want them slacking off or being behind me in skill when I left the village…”

It was the Raikage’s turn to stare at her flatly, “And think about what you managed to do with that _simple, basic_ training?” if he didn’t know any better it almost looked like the woman was embarrassed, “Now I want everyone in this village made aware of that, from the beginning Academy Student to the Veteran ANBU,” the large man paused a moment to think about that, “ ** _Especially_** the Veteran ANBU!”

The woman blinked, thought about it, then found it hard to suppress the chuckle that wanted to let loose, “Lord Raikage,” she looked him straight in the face with a sincere smile, “All you have to do is ask.”

The large man gained a stern look, facing the woman completely and placing his hands behind his back as he stood up straight and looked imposing, “Kemui, I request that you teach the Shinobi Forces the advanced techniques of Intelligence Gathering and Counter-Intelligence you employ in your missions.”

Grey eyes stared a moment, taking in all that was her Lord, before a light smile appeared on her lips and the woman gave a light bow, “As you wish, Lord Raikage.”

The _serious_ moment was ruined by the white haired baby boy sitting up and clapping his hands with gurgling chuckles.

Both _serious_ adults looked towards the child and deflated, more serene smiles lighting up both their faces.

“Thank you, Jin,” the woman glanced towards the large man next to her, “For solving my own dilemma.”

He smirked, “What are friends for,” his beady black eyes glanced down at the woman, “Now if you’d do something for me?” a white brow rose as an answer, he shuffled a bit uncomfortably under the look, “Train up a new assistant,” he growled, “If I have to spend another day with those two idiots I’m going to kill them…”

The woman gave a light laugh behind one of her raised sleeves, “Of course, Lord Raikage,” she glanced at him sidelong, “I’m sure Reki can give me a list of potential candidates, seeing as I too will be unable to fully _watch_ you thanks to my new duties.”

The large man grumbled next to the smaller woman, who just lightly smiled.

There was a sigh from the large Oni, “Things are going to get hectic aren’t they?”

The wolf just glanced at him, “Of course,” the pale woman folded her hands into her sleeves and stood comfortably, watching as her son just grinned at them both, “Things always seem to change quickly…”

“Hmp,” the large man grunted, rolling his shoulders, “Yorihi’s not gonna know what to do when she gets back from dealing with that master of yours…”

The pale woman smiled at the thought of her Student, “if there’s one thing my master would have taught her, it’s how to adapt,” she gave the large man a sidelong glance, “after all that’s what you want me to teach the others,” he gave a snort as an answer, to which she shook her head at, “after all, who would have thought my mission would have ended like that?”

“Heh,” the large man smirked, “Definitely from left field,” there was a dark laugh that left the man’s chest, “Should have heard the complaints from Section S…”

Kemui gave a depressed sigh, “I’ve heard enough as it is from Reki, from **_both_** sides,” she gave the man a knowing look. If there was one person that had an earful to say on both the topics of her abrupt mission end and her son, it was the Uchiha Bastard.

“Not too good I take it?” there was a smirk tugging at the large man’s lips.

A sigh was his immediate answer, “Between the flagrant yelling about my own idiocy, praising Itachi for wiping them out and wanting nothing more than breaking his neck for doing it for her… it’s probably best to let her calm down some before asking about that list…”

The Raikage chuckled, “Well you’re both alive and unharmed, I’d call that progress…”

“I’d call it divine intervention,” the woman frowned, “her daughter had come in while she and I were on the verge of drawing weapons, took one look at my son and asked if she could keep him,” there was a light chuckle, “I’m lucky that woman cares more about what she considers family then her own hatred.”

The Raikage place his hand on the woman’s shoulder, gripping it, “It’ll all get better…”

Without thinking, the woman raised one of her own pale hands and grabbed his on her shoulder, “I know,” a sigh, “I know…”

There was a grin on the large man’s face as he squeezed her shoulder, glancing at the little white haired boy all too content to play with pillows since the adults were out of reach, “So what’s his name?”

“He doesn’t have one,” she turned to spot a confused glared leveled her way, “The Uchiha followed a tradition where a child didn’t get a name until they were a year old,” she shrugged, looking back at her son, “Though, I suppose it’s been long enough…”

A tiny blonde brow rose as the large man looked down at the woman, “You ‘suppose’?”

The white haired woman looked down and spoke in a low voice, “The day of the Massacre… was…” the hand on the woman’s shoulder gripped tighter, making it evident the large man understood. Kemui looked up at her Lord, her own emotions on the event muddled between the thoughts of her persona and that of her _true_ self, but she appreciated the gesture nonetheless.

“So,” the large man released her, crossing his arms and looking at the year-old drooling all over a pillow with a smirk, “What are you going to call him?”

Grey eyes glanced at the large man a moment, then down to her son, a light smile finding its way on her features, “Yoken Sutego,” she could feel the large man glance down at her so she met his gaze with a light shrug, “He’s not of my clan, nor his father’s,” the pleasant smile stayed on her pale face as she looked back at her son, “He’s the reason I’m here right now… even if I want to protect him by saying he isn’t mine…”

“Hmp,” the Raikage crossed his arms, “You make it too complicated…”

The woman glanced at him with a raised white brow, “So why did you name her Tenkyuu Yorihi?”

There was a large shrug, “Felt like it…”

The white haired woman just shook her head, “Of course.”

The Raikage took a step forward, arms crossed and looking imposing, his beady black eyes looking down at the curious black ones of the little boy who was looking up at him with a grin and sucking on his fingers, “Alright, Sutego, you’re gonna be the man around here and watch your mother, understand?” the Oni had a wide grin as the little boy started clapping his hands, smiling at the giant as if to agree, “That’s what I like to hear!”

Behind them, Kemui could only sigh and shake her head… even if she was still smiling.

\-----

Yoken – Given Conditions

Sutego - Foundling


	9. Bats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meanwhile, with Yorihi...

The darkness was still… silent and still.

Yorihi breathed in slowly and shallowly, she had to keep complete control of her breathing so as to not make any excess noise or waste any excess energy on the vital motion, already she’d learned the hard way just what being too ‘loud’ or too ‘wasteful’ could cost her. Her body was perfectly still, had been for over a week in that solitary position, if it weren’t for the fact she didn’t feel like she was suffocating anymore the young girl probably wouldn’t have even realized she was breathing at all. This was good, if she could trick her own body, surely her opponent wouldn’t notice either.

A small, barely registerable high pitched noise came in on her lower left. She had to fight with herself not to tense or flinch, or make any kind of reaction at all, even her chakra she had to push into a flat line under her skin. Mildly her mind drifted to that observation. – _Since when is it hard to keep it ‘down’ instead of ‘up’ enough to keep me and Bachiko alive?_ \- it was a minor thought, one she’d pay more attention to later, right now even the smallest hint of _anything_ could set off her opponent, so immediately the concern was dissolved into the tranquil nothingness of the black void around her, along with her oddly ‘excess’ chakra and jittery muscles.

There was a beat of wind coming from her back, small but thanks to her stillness she could sense it easily. It was something Tougemichi had all but beat into her, ‘ _always be ready, from stillness to action, dead to life in less than an instant_ ’ hand been one of his ‘phrases’, there were a lot of them, often involving a funny disapproving tone whenever her told her. It was one of those ‘quirks’ about the old man she had learned quick enough, he always seemed to disapprove of everything, not matter how good she did there was always something else, she wasn’t even sure there was a ‘better’ he was looking for, Bachiko had simply said the man was crazy, not that she wouldn’t debate the point when considering her current task. The old Assassin was harder than her Teacher, that was true, but there was always _something_ she felt when he was giving his disapproving grunts, like he was actually ‘impressed’ or hadn’t expected her progress… just that he wouldn’t _praise_ her for it. She learned quickly enough that ‘silence’ was as close to ‘approval’ as the old man got…

In less than a second Yorihi’s hand shot out, flicking her wrist and loosing the knife, pegging the bat dead center on the wall to her left and slightly behind.

A slow low breath released from her barely parted lips. No matter how many times she managed to do that her body always felt like pins and needles under her skin, the quick change from stillness to action and back was always so jarring. – _Perhaps with enough practice I’ll have it so it doesn’t affect me… at least as much…_ \- a light frown picked at the edge of her lip as she brought her hand back and reset into her meditative stance, sensing out her next target.

The was the impression of a chuckle in the back of her mind.

Dark brows lowered over the bandana that permanently covered her eyes, even if he could see in this blackness she knew the ethereal cat would know just as she knew he was laughing at her, “ _What?!”_ she called to her constant companion in her mind, forcing her body to not jump so quickly into agitation even if it was begging to move, she still had the rest of her ‘assignment’ to perform…

The ghost cat gave that Cheshire grin as his return impression. Without even trying Yorihi could sense him prowling along the wall making for her latest ‘kill’… it took all her willpower not to frown more. “ _Don’t you dare!”_ she could feel her brows twitch, and without her consent a small burst of chakra escaped. There was mental cursing in the young girl as she could feel more of the damnable bats take notice…

… and all her ‘partner’ was doing was laughing at her as he inched closer to stealing her kill.

Yorihi had to bit her tongue. – _Ignore him…_ \- she could feel as he padded closer and closer to his target, flicking his tails about with that stupid grin on his face as he slowed just enough to taunt her. – _Ignore him!_ \- it took a surprising amount of effort to stop her brow from twitching, even more to keep her breathing even, and even _more_ to keep her spiking chakra from bursting out probably attacking the ghost-tabby for screwing with her assignment… **_again!_**

Bachiko reached a paw out, just _inching_ it towards the dead, skewered bat…

Yorihi’s fury and calm reached a pinnacle… and without even thinking or realizing her body moved on its own, her hand flicked out, same as it had with the bat… only this time instead of skewering its target the knife she’d thrown pinned to the wall right at the fork of the bakeneko’s tails.

Bachiko was frozen, paw a mere inch from claiming the bat for himself…

“Next time I won’t be so nice,” she let out a devious smirk that rivaled the ethereal cat’s Cheshire grin, “and you’ll end up a bobbed cat…” He sat down with his ears flat, Yorihi was sure he looked hilarious with his sulking from the impression she was getting, too bad she couldn’t see it…

Then he smirked, his impression of ‘I win’ lingering in the back of her mind.

The small girl had all of a second to contemplate his mean before she felt a whole colony of bats snap in her direction. Her shoulders hunched as she could barely pick up their high-pitched chatter along with the swooshing of the _horde_ of flapping wings zeroing in on her narrow position stuck atop tall stalagmite. Her white eyes narrowed behind her bandana as she just glared forward into the darkness, “Goddamnit!!” it was the last thing she yelled before putting her hands together and focusing on suppressing her chakra, motion, and anything else that even _slightly_ registered a living thing before the colony descended upon her.

The bats in these caves were _ruthless_ , and that was putting it ‘kindly’. An interesting ‘quirk’ about the creatures that developed in the darkness of this cave, due to the chakra-sucking of the stone, all the creatures were highly aware of chakra. It was probably a development as a means to ‘protect’ themselves from the environment, but trying to sense them with chakra alone was next to impossible since the _animals_ were capable of either dampening their chakra or were naturally resistant. Whatever the case, they were hard to tract ‘normally’, the other downside was that they were _EXCEPTIONAL_ at tracking chakra themselves, and in fact many of them even fed on it. How? Yorihi had no idea, it was just something Tougemichi had told her before sending her off on her first assignment… fetching water. Of course, it wasn’t that simple… the water was infested with leeches that not only sucked blood, but chakra… and they jumped; suffice it to say she learned to dodge really quick. The fish were worse.

Once she’d managed to get one hundred buckets, _in a row_ , without a single aquatic creature getting her, he’d sent her on task number two, fetching lichen. Apparently it was this strange not-plant that grew easily on next-to-nothing… _normally_ … the lichen in _these_ caves was also rather chakra-absorbent… _EXTREMELY_ chakra-absorbent. For a non-sentient _thing_ it was not only tough to find, being that she can’t see despite her eyes being on for days on end, but it had next to no smell, which she’d learned just as quickly as _dodging_ was a good way to get her way around the place. With no direction, scent, or idea about the stuff she literally had to find it with a mix of ‘feeling’ it out from the sense of ‘dampness’ without water and the extra chakra-drain… then there was the deal with ‘touching’ the stuff, not to mention how slimy and weird it felt but the extra drain was brutal. Again she had to be able to get the stuff and back without having to take a break… a hundred times in a row.

Of course that also accounted for dodging jumping leeches, fish, and whatever else aquatic things as the lichen often formed _above_ water sources… then there were the rather aggressive herbivores that ate the stuff… in fact she had no idea what they were, just that they had various ‘defenses’ for their primary food source she had to get through to get the stuff so the old man could have his Lichen Tea… she wasn’t even convinced the stuff made very good tea, but what Master wants…

Her ‘tasks’ basically ran this course, working her way up the food-chain through chakra-enhanced and draining ‘ _things_ ’ to get something so the old Assassin could have something new to eat. She and Bachiko were utterly convinced the old man was doing it just to torment them and had no idea what he was really doing when it came to ‘teaching’…

Of course the second the old Assassin registers any descent, it’s off to redo all the previous tasks with basic weapon’s forms training and knife-fu, as the old Assassin made it very clear, if there was _ONE_ weapon she learned how to use every which way, it was a knife, or really just a small sharpened hunk of metal, even a pointy rock he called a ‘knife’, so long as it was “ _small, unassuming, and can cut… it’s a knife._ ” Was another of his ‘phrases’. While ‘crazy’, Yorihi had to admit, the likelihood of something falling in that description being within reach was high, especially with how well the old Assassin had been teaching her to conceal and quickly _use_ such things. At the time she’d wondered if her Teacher kept more than just that knife on her back on her, and the small girl had had to grin at the thought that if Kemui-sama had gone through the same training, there was no way she didn’t…

So food-quests, knife-wielding lessons, other weapon and tool lessons, along with periods of mental exercises, scenarios and history lessons most of Yorihi’s time was spent doing ‘something’. She didn’t even remember what ‘days’ were, having long lost the concept of time thanks to complete darkness and with how long Tougemichi kept her doing things, for all she knew what she thought was a ‘day’ could very well have been a week or just an hour, time was weird. Meditation had become her substitute for sleep unless she passed out from exhaustion, as hard as Tougemichi was with keeping her constantly on the move, the old Assassin never once condemned her for passing out having gone over her limit. Whatever time she lost on restful **_real_** sleep was quickly put to use learning something else or on some other training, it was why one of the first things the old man had taught her was meditation. Healing meditation, when done right, could give twice the results of a full night’s sleep in half the time, meaning more training… though there were times he insisted on ‘real’ sleep, particularly after finally completing a ‘task’, and Yorihi had come to associate ‘real sleep’ as a reward, even if Tougemichi would just say it was to prepare her for what was next.

When her ‘tasks’ started to get longer and longer the old Assassin had finally taught her the basics of first aid and how to make the medical salves she would need while fending for herself in the caves. Those lessons had probably been her favorite, she didn’t know if she was any good at it, but something about mixing the herbs and making something that would help her survive and heal was oddly enjoyable. When she got back home she knew she’d have to ask her father if there was anyone good with medical things that could teach her more, healing was just as important as knowing how to fight, right? If her Teacher and now Master both thought it was a vital skill to know, it was worth looking into right? Yorihi knew that if no one else in Kumo could teach her, at least her Teacher would know more to teach her when she got back.

Yorihi always thought of her family the more lessons she had with Tougemichi, the more things she learned the more she thought about who would be best to help her improve it when she got back and part of her wondered if the old Assassin knew her thoughts. He taught her _just enough_ to get by, and the rest she seemed to have to learn on her own in the field, and when she beat whatever task was at hand he’d move on to something else. So far she had a list, Knife-wielding and medicine from Kemui-sama, history and hand-to-hand from Nee-chan, swords and word games with Oji-chan, and everything physical and sparing she was sure if _anyone_ could teach her most it’d be her Father, he _was_ the Raikage after all. Tougemichi always gave this scoff whenever she told him her plans to further her training, she was never sure if it was approving or disapproving, it was always hard to tell with the old Assassin.

Tougemichi wasn’t bad in Yorihi’s opinion, even if Bachiko was sure the old man was senile, she liked him. He wasn’t as quiet as her Teacher, and he was by far the harshest person she’d met, but she didn’t think he did it to be mean, it was just how he was… harsh. It’s what made him as strong as he was, Yorihi never forgot how quickly and easily he’d managed to demolish the side of the mountain to break into this cave, nor how easily he navigated it without the ability to see, it was something to aspire to as far as she was concerned. If she couldn’t get to the old man’s level by the end of her training… then she’d just have to try harder! It’d become her goal, learning how to do what the old Assassin was capable of, and by proxy what her family was surely capable of… she’d be just as strong, if not stronger than them!

Tougemichi had laughed smugly the first time she broke her hand trying to make a dent in the wall… but he never told her to ‘stop’, simply stated she was ‘doing it wrong’ and that if she got better he might tell her how to do it ‘right’… unless she figured it out beforehand. Somehow the way he’d said it made her think it was a challenge… one she gladly aspired to, after all her Father could crush boulders with ease!! She had a lot to live up to being his daughter!!

She’d managed to break her hand again the second she got a break from her tasks… but she’d made a crack and the old man hadn’t laugh… as much.

Bachiko had thoroughly laughed his tail off… the moment her hand was wrapped with healing salves she’d chased him until the tabby ran out of energy and was too tired to snicker and had resorted back to sneezing, something he hadn’t done in what she assumed was months because of the drag from the stone. That had been the start of their little ‘war’. Ever since then, whenever she got a task from the old man, no matter how bizarre and food-oriented, she was determined to get it done as quickly as possible… Bachiko had set about to making her fail as much as possible, forcing her to repeat the tasks multiple more times than she would have. Initially it was small things, distracting her, giving wrong directions, but as time went on the bakeneko seemed to go more and more out of his way to deliberately  make it harder and harder for her to finish her task instead of helping her like he had been before…

Like now…

Yorihi held her breath as she focused on her chakra, forming a barrier to keep the bats _away_ but at the same time not having it so full as to have them linger. This task was ‘simple’ in the same sense the others had been; get one hundred bats for food. The ‘quirks’ were that these bats were probably the most bloodthirsty things she’d ever come across! They fed on both blood _and_ chakra! And there were **_THOUSANDS_** of them!! One would think nabbing a measly hundred out of the colony would be ‘easy’ with how many there were… WRONG! Not only did she have to _get_ one hundred of the things, she had to skewer them perfectly between the wings, something about them tasting better whole or something the old man had said… he’d been _very_ specific, as he’d be ‘checking’ them. Yorihi wasn’t positive the old Assassin actually _would_ , but the threat was enough for her to need to get them right. Skewering them was the idea, and after training to hit cave-rodents she’d thought it’d be easy enough since they were similar, right? NO!! The bats weren’t just flying, adding a whole other dimension to their movement, they were _FAST!_ She learned soon enough they could turn faster than her knife could hit them, and usually if she didn’t get them they’d call the colony! Swarms of tiny, biting, chakra-eating flying things was _NOT_ fun! She had to figure out how to _hide_ to trick the quick little things, she’d done that with the rodents, but with the bats’ hyper-sensitive hearing she had to learn how to be even _more_ still, how to react in an instant and go right back to nothing else the **_horde_** would be on her.

Not to mention having to be able to do all this at least fifty feet off the ground latched onto a stalagmite as the things never came close to the ground!! She was learning to ‘walk’ on her hands just as well as her feet with all the climbing she had to do in her previous tasks… this time it was sticking and being still while waiting the evil, flying things out.

She’d finally gotten it down to being able to skewer the little buggers… and realized _that_ wasn’t the hard part. The hard part was being able to repeat the process a hundred times in a row, quick enough to get the number she needed without the ones she already had spoiling and the **_horde_** coming after her, or worse, eating her kills as the creepy little things didn’t seem above cannibalism. She’d shuttered at the thought the first time she noticed it… then got promptly swarmed and resisted the urge ever since.

So _OF COURSE!_ When she’d finally started getting _‘good’_ at catching the things in a timely manner, factoring in her own hunger and sustenance, Bachi-chan had to go and start eating her kills like the little glutton he was!! And if that wasn’t bad enough he’d started pulling little pranks resulting in her either moving too much or making noise that would call the **_horde_**!! This had to have been the third time!! Now she had to hold them off with a bubble of chakra to prevent them from eating _her_ , climb down, find another spot and start poaching the evil, flying things all over aga-

“Wait…” an absent thought passed through her mind. – _How is Bachi-chan not getting swarmed?_ \- she reached out towards the cat, he was just sitting on the wall licking his paws nonchalant. The cat paused a moment when he recognized her invading presence and she could feel him smirk as he set his paw down, gloating apparently prioritized over preening.

Yorihi wanted to glare at him. – _No, need to stay focused_ \- not only did she have to remain focused to keep the bubble that separated biting teeth and her but also to keep up the delicate balance that was juggling her ‘handicaps’, making sure Bachiko had enough chakra to sustain himself, controlling the flow that got sucked away by the mountain, and her eyes-

White eyes opened behind the young girl’s bandana. If she wasn’t using her hands to help focus the chakra in her body she would have hit herself in the forehead. – _With my eyes ‘on’ all the time and seeing nothing I forget they’re even there_ \- drawing in on herself, Yorihi focused what attention she could to her eyes. – _If I can keep them focused on Bachi-chan, and separate him from the chakra of the mountain I can probably see how he’s keeping the bats back_ \- taking a short breath in, she switched her eyes into their chakra-sensing mode, keeping all her focus on the ethereal cat. Tougemichi had warned her not to use this sight inside the cave, as it would probably overload this chakra-sensitive sight since the mountain was full of the chakra it absorbed, which for all he knew was the reason she couldn’t see through it. But she had to try, even if she was mad at the cat for interfering she was getting the impression he was holding the answer to her predicament, if only she could ‘see’ it. – _I can’t use my ‘normal’ sight… and he’s not telling me… so this is my only option…_ -

She pursed her lips and kept her focus on the Bakeneko’s odd-colored chakra, compared to the nearly blinding blue-white of the living chakra swarming around, Bachiko’s blue-black watery chakra was easy to find. – _If I keep focus on him, block out the rest…_ \- slowly as her eyes zeroed in on the off-color the rest seemed to fade, just a little, and it was enough to stop her eyes from hurting. – _I’ll have to test this out more… if I can focus on a single chakra signature, that’d make tracking Tougemichi easy!_ \- without realizing it Yorihi was attempting to ‘improve’ her eyes in a way few had ever thought.

Her head shook, the ‘dimming’ on the bats and the mountain slightly fading as her focus was slipping. – _First things first…_ \- she focused on the blue-black watery chakra of the bakeneko… then noticed there _were_ bats around him, they were just being rather… slow? A brow rose over her bandana. – _What in the-?_ \- she focused on one of the sluggish bats… it had blue-black watery chakra inside its blue-white flaming coils… it was feeding on Bachiko’s chakra!

“ _Are you poisoning them?!_ ” was her immediate jump to conclusions.

Yorihi got the impression the cat was just flatly glaring at her, as if she’d just missed the point… he seemed to ‘sigh’ before nudging her to pay close attention to the ones closest to her.

There was an immediate frown that passed the girl’s lips, mostly because she couldn’t specifically focus on a single bat without the help of his off-colored chakra, that would hurt too much at the moment. Luckily she didn’t _need_ her eyes to focus on the evil little things closest to her. Quickly shutting off the chakra-view of her eyes, the young girl focused her senses on the bats closest to her, the ones actively feeding on her small sphere of chakra.

They were getting sluggish.

Bachiko smirked to himself the moment he felt his master start pumping more of her chakra into the area around her. Even if the mountain sucked away a quarter of her little outburst, it should be enough to daze a good number of the flying-rats, and if she could get them before they metabolized the chakra or she passed out, it should help in her overall endeavor, if not get her at least a hundred in one burst. The cat couldn’t help grinning to himself, glad his little game was helping his master… after all, she couldn’t have produced this much chakra if she just breezed through her previous tasks like she’d wanted, his little ‘hiccups’ had forced her to get stronger to overcome them, making her more and more prepared for each new task the old one came up with. Bachiko often wondered what the old one thought, he got the impression the Assassin knew what he was doing and since he never interfered, surely that meant the old one approved, right?

Yorihi had managed to get about twenty of the bats to fall from overeating before she started to drop. Bachiko immediately stood, ready to catch his master in an instant, she did good considering… there was no shame in not getting the full amount the first time…

As she started to fall from her perch he moved, leaping to her stalagmite and chasing her down…

He should have known better than to worry, as the girl reached out and caught herself on one of the small hand holds. They both knew she wouldn’t hold on long so quickly the girl moved to the next, and next and next until she’d managed to not only stabilize her fall but shimmy her way down to the cave floor. She was panting, bent over, holding her knees, and her hands hurt, but she was on stable ground and alive…

Bachiko hopped down next to the girl, nuzzling up on her leg, making sure she was okay…

After taking two or three more deep breathes Yorihi stood up, taking one large one to finally stabilize her breathing before flexing her hands, “no time to rest,” she went about crawling around, sniffing out the bats that’d dropped, a few had broken their necks with the fall and were already dead, the rest either on their way or just unconscious. She frowned, “What do you think are the chances he’d over look death-by-concussion as opposed to skewering?” her voice deadpanned as she sat on the ground bundling up the ones she’d managed to get into a pile, if nothing else it was food for her and her feline friend.

Bachiko sat and stared flatly, his tail waving listlessly and she didn’t need their bond to know his negative answer.

“Food for us,” the girl let out a light sigh, trying to think of not only the best way to ‘eat’ them, but also how to use what she’d learned to eventually completing this task. The bats were attracted to anything that moved, which was why she’d been learning to keep absolutely still, but if they came in force to her chakra she could catch more of them at once. Although to reach the specifics of her master’s request, it’d be ‘easier’ to go at them individually as it ensures the better kill… but… “If they gorge they get slow, if I could feed them _just enough_ to slow them down in a larger group, I could get a lot quicker…” the girl rubbed her chin as she mused over her options, “Though that’d require being able to get them with the knife _while_ keeping control of my chakra enough to slow them down without having them drop…”

Lightning seemed to strike the two as their minds followed the logical path and possible answer… then openly groaned.

Yorihi’s hand met face as Bachiko just slumped, “This is getting really ridiculous,” there was an absent nod from the bakeneko in agreement. A deep, long sigh let loose from Yorihi’s mouth as she dropped her hand and fell back to lay on the ground, “what are the chances he’ll want me to be able to get one hundred in one run?”

Even if she couldn’t _see_ them, she could _feel_ those vibrant blue eyes just flatly staring at her…

“Thought so…” there was a mild groan as the girl just let her head drop, the cat giving a sympathetic grin, even if he was looking up at the colony of bats still flying above them in chaos.

His tails flicked from one side to the next; at least it was never boring…

\-----

A strike of the hammer, sparks flying, the heat in the in-closed space and the heaviness of the thin air.

Tougemichi breathed out smoke from his pipe, raising a hand with its palm out to feel out the temperature of the slab of metal he had between the tongs in his other hand. – _Hmm, still too many impurities…_ \- this blade was being particularly difficult to forge. A small smirk tugged at the edge of his old lips, the stubborn thing reminding him of his other student. – _heh… that whelp…_ \- he tossed the hot blade into the trough full of water. He held the tongs tight as the thing hissed and sizzled, steam rising and making the dry air slightly less arid. The old Assassin was trying to gauge what exactly this blade was trying to be, it was stubborn, having too many impurities making it brittle, meaning it would need longer to be folded and beat out… but what was it doing? And why did it remind him of that stubborn whelp? His free hand rose to his chin, rubbing the scruffy old beard remembering his time trying to train that growling little thing. – _It took a long time, lots of polish, lots of beating the ‘impurities’ out_ \- a dark chuckle escaped him as he lowered his free hand, feeling the temperature out of the blade from the tongs, removing it from the water and running his hand over it again. – _Forged from something so rough… she certainly became quite the sharp blade…_ -

A bolt of lightning seemed to strike the old man as he lowered the blade and his hands. – _Sharp…_ \- the smirk finally took over as he chuckled again, tossing the hunk of metal into the fire. – _That’ll work…_ -

The old man sat reminiscing about the past and what his current student had told him about her life in the village of clouds so far, under that feisty cat, the blunt bull, his sharp student and her lighting quick father. If the first two swords he had forged followed her Sister and Uncle, then perhaps it was about time he got to that whelp in one of them. – _Brat’s stories are getting to me…_ \- despite the sordid tone in his mind the old Assassin actually enjoyed the little girl’s take on the world, it was so… refreshing. Her innocence, her trust in those around her, even if he could see right through their ploys; and he was blind. He knew what they wanted, what everyone in this world wanted, a better tool, something strong to work for them. His clan had never shied away from this fact, in fact they used it to their advantage, becoming the greatest killers to serve those they deemed worthy, then followed the strongest. It was their nature, it was who they were, tools to serve, tools to kill.

- _But this girl…_ \- he may not have ‘seen’ whatever exchanged between his student and hers, but he knew the woman’s aura, her heart. When she left him – _what was it, 18 years now?_ \- what she had been was exactly what she was meant to be, even if the clan disagreed, he had forged for them the perfect blade and from what she told him they had thrown it away. – _Too bad, they were idiots anyway…_ \- He had been the best Assassin to ever come from that clan, he knew his weapons, he knew his tools, he had forged that girl into a perfect weapon, and they had been too blind to accept it.

He let go of the tongs, letting the blade heat up on its own, as he sat back and gave a deep sigh, “And now that blade has lost its luster, broken and chipped from overuse,” he crossed his arms, scratching his beard in thought, “But perhaps she can be reforged…” people, like metal, wore down, but also under pressure and new ‘heat’ could be sharpened and changed into knew, more appropriate tools. – _Perhaps that is what that girl is doing?_ \- he thought to his talks with the child, how she looked up to his old student in a way he _never_ believed the woman capable of acting. Perhaps it wasn’t the best ‘blade’ the woman needed to be now, she was worn from fighting so long and overuse in such familiar territory, “Perhaps she just needs to endure,” he nodded his head, placing his hands flat on his knees, keeping an ear out for the cracks in the fire, “A knife is a hidden-blade after all, meant to parry and defend, or slice quick and silent…”

“Did you say something?” a soft voice called out not far behind the old man.

Against his wishes a smirk picked at the edge of his lips – _She’s getting better_ \- the old man gripped his knee, turning an ear her way with a mild growl in his voice, “Turn your eyes ‘off’ girl, no need for you to blind yourself…”

The dark brows over Yorihi’s bandana tilted down in annoyance as the pout spread on her growing face, “I found you by following the scent of the forge,” her arms moved as if she wanted to make some gesture, a habit she’d gotten to doing with Bachiko, even if neither of them normally saw it, but this time prevented by what she was carrying, “but I thought I’d leave them on, since I need to keep it up anyway…”

“Heh,” the old man grunted, turning back to his task, “Turn ‘em off, all you’ll see is the chakra stuck in this place or the light of the forge, probably go blind way…” he felt the girl growl herself, though much smaller than a certain other student he remembered, though he was suspecting she had picked it up from too much time around him. – _She takes in what she finds useful from those around her… heh, a useful talent_ \- he smirked, even if she couldn’t see it, “What’re you hauling girl?”

With her eyes ‘off’ Yorihi was stuck using her other senses to orient herself, when she first got here that had been difficult, stuck feeling around and using her nose to find the old man or anything else, she’d been lucky the forge hadn’t been lit the first time she ‘found’ the thing. Heat and smoke told her the old man and the forge were to her left, so that meant a few feet in front of her was… “Ah!” she bumped the table, grinning as she ‘caught’ the edge this time before running into to it, setting down her ‘haul’ before finding a seat and setting to her current ‘task’. At the old man’s question she ‘glanced’ up, only catching the small light under her bandana as she felt around for a knife, “Bats… as usual…”

“Got used to their flavor huh?” the old man had a wicked grin as he could sense the girl giving him a disgusted look. When first coming to the cave he had informed her there was plenty to eat, if you could catch it, initially he did the catching as she was still too young and uncoordinated to walk from one end of the room to the other without tripping. Over two years later and he never had to leave the place unless to show her to her new ‘task’ or find her if she’d been ‘lost’ too long. He could easily smell the blood and hear the stretching of skin as she prepared the things, very little meat on individual ones, but get a whole bunch and they were good for stew. His ears perked at the sounds she was making, “You’re holding the blade too tight, let it glide and just use the wrist…”

Yorihi blinked behind her bandana, feeling around so as not to cut herself, it happened A LOT, and she figured one of these days she would get it down to where she could skin a whole colony of the little evil things before nicking herself. – _How the… hell? Does he do that?_ \- profanity had been something she had been learning from the old assassin, along with everything else, specifically the ‘proper’ way of holding a knife, throwing it, skewering bats with one, and generally how to get the sharp end to cause ‘blood’ and ‘pain’ in other things… not that she particularly _enjoyed_ this, but it was overall useful to know… especially on bats. And it seemed to be an automatic response the old man did, he wasn’t really ‘teaching’ her how to do it, just that it came out when he noticed, like now, she often wondered why as well as ‘how’? ‘Hearing’ that she was using the blade wrong or ‘feeling’ it seemed a bit farfetched to her, but the longer she was with the old Assassin the more ‘plausible’ that thought became… after all, she was skinning bats with a knife blindfolded and at this point considered it ‘normal’.

- _What would Otou-sama think?_ \- She blinked, adjusting her grip on the knife and getting to work ‘cleaning’ another of the little… bastards? – _That sounds right…_ \- a grin spread on her mouth, just imagining how her family would react to her coming back from the darkness of the mountains using words like ‘bastard’ and ‘hell’ and… well there were A LOT and the only time she’d really heard them was when no one thought she was around… the little girl giggled to herself, imagining her Sister and Uncle staring or laughing, her Father scowling like he had at her ‘Grandmother’ for that gesture the black haired woman had made… her thought process paused as she snickered at the crass older woman. – _Baba would probably be ‘proud’, hehe…_ \- and finally her Teacher. – _Kemui-sama would probably give that sigh like she does when Oji-chan raps…_ \- the grin on her face, thinking about her family, completely blew up whatever angst she’d felt at the old man for his ‘training’ and prepping ‘bats’ for stew and jerky.

“Hrm,” the scrapping of metal on stone caught her attention, “What are you laughing at girl?”

“Hm?” Yorihi raised her head towards the heat, sensing the old Assassin, something about her previous thoughts keeping the grin on her face not that anyone could see it, “Just… heh, just thinking of everyone… back home,” her head lowered, feeling slightly embarrassed at the admission for some reason.

“Come here child,” the old man waved his hand towards him, an odd gesture since both were blind at the moment, yet somehow Yorihi registered it. She shook her head at the oddity – _I’m imagining things…_ \- she set the knife down, ignoring the evil bats for the moment as she walked her way over towards the heat that signified the old man. The closer she got the hotter and drier the air felt, even just across the room. – _How does Tougemichi deal with it all day?_ \- since they’d come to the old man’s home he would wander to the forge when she wasn’t around, making _something_ , and no matter how often she tried to peek in those early days he’d have her go off and do something ridiculous, typically involving chakra use and her ending up completely lost, but once she stopped ‘trying’ to spy on him and just generally ignored it, the old man stopped ‘hiding’ it. – _Or that was the entire point…_ \- she shrugged as she sat down, this was the first she’d ever come this close while he was actually working.

Both were silent for a moment as the old man took the tongs in hand and flipped the piece of metal in the furnace.

“Tell me, what do you think I’m doing?” came the old Assassin’s voice, calm, steady and gravelly as ever.

Yorihi blinked behind her bandana, turning her ear more towards him and ignoring the urge to ‘look’ his way as it wouldn’t help her. Absently her foot kicked out and hit the bottom of the forge barely a foot from where she sat, “making something?”

“And how do you know that?” he shifted the metal, gauging the heat in the slab from the tongs in his hand.

Yorihi shrugged, even if the gesture was useless, “ovens are used to make food, and this is a lot bigger and you spend a lot of time around it,” at first she pointed at the thing, then remembering such a thing was useless, for both of them, so she held her hand out palm facing the flames, taking in the heat and trying to gauge it like the old Assassin seemed able to, “… also the sound of metal hitting metal travels far in these caves.”

“Hmp,” she wondered if the old Assassin was smirking, “that is something to remember…” he tugged on the tongs and brought the superheated metal near him, causing Yorihi to reflexively lean _away_ afraid it’d get too close, she was only vaguely registering this was probably really dangerous as both of them couldn’t ‘see’. Tougemichi moved the pipe in his mouth, still unsatisfied with the heat in the blade before turning it over and setting it back into the forge. – _Still not enough…_ \- he could sense the small girl next to him fidget, wanting to say something, “Speak girl.”

Dark brows lowered over the bandana as a small pout formed on her lips, “What are you making?”

A smirk wanted to tug at the old man’s lips but he forced the urge down, letting go of the tongs and generally sitting back, one hand grabbing his pipe, “a sword,” he bit out around the wooden thing, breathing out a puff of smoke from his nose, she was still fidgeting, “Something else? “He could feel the girl’s mouth open then rapidly close as she seemed to consider her words very carefully. He really did smirk at that, if just a little.

Yorihi seemed to finally decide on her words as the young girl crossed her arms and seemed to try sitting straighter, giving the impression of being bigger and taller, “Why did you call me over Tougemichi?”

- _Heh, direct already?_ \- the light smirk gave way to a dry chuckle, “Smart enough to ask directly, hmp,” he threw a leg over his other, leaning in just chewing on his pipe, “Suppose I was curious,” his shoulder flicked back slightly in a gesture to the table with the bats, confident she’d sense it even if she wasn’t fully aware, “What was your answer?”

“Answer?” he could sense the girl cock her head to the side at the question.

There was another bark of a laugh, “Heh,” he blew out smoke from his nose, listening to the crackle of the forge as it slowly simmered, “The bats, the trial… I know you’re not ‘finish’,” another jerk back to the small batch of bats, but he could tell, even from this distance, most weren’t killed by a knife wound and that had him curious, “and I know you’ll be back at it after a break to recoup,” it was an assumption, but the way he could feel her bristling told him he was absolutely right, “So while you’re here, tell me girl, what is your answer for getting the little bastards?”

Yorihi couldn’t force the pout off her lips as she leaned on her arms, “Catching them one-on-one takes too long, having to be perfectly still so they’ll come by, then quick and precise to catch them, then right back to stillness,” her body gave an involuntary shake, not from any kind of disgust, but just thinking about the tension of stillness to quick motion and back made her body shake with anticipation, she’d been using that tactic longer then she’d realized. She ran a hand along her shoulder trying to rub the shake out, “then with Bachiko taking the ones I get, just means longer so they’ll just spoil… so,” the girl paused, both hands on her shoulders rubbing out the excess energy as she thought about the chakra trick. Did it count as cheating that she’d used her eyes like that? It was a thought, which she quickly wiped away with a shake of her head, “since they feed on chakra, I… well…”

“Lost your temper?” there was a mocking chuckle in the old man’s voice, she just knew it as she could hear him pick up the metal from the forge again.

The pout grew, “they… _gorged_ on the excess chakra… causing them to fall out of the sky,” she gestured to the table like the old man had, realizing that’d he just _know_ , same as she did, “so I just have to figure out how to keep them fed _just_ enough to slow them down and strike,” a deep groaning sigh escaped the small girl’s throat as she continued her thought, “ _while_ also keeping that barrier up so they don’t get me, not to mention everything else I have to do! Ugh!!” in an instant her hands were up in the air, frustration obvious.

The old Assassin gave the throaty chuckle as he had moved away, a second later and the first pounding of the hammer came down.

The pout turned to a frown as she ‘looked’ in the direction she heard the hammer, “I’ll get it,” she growled, bringing her hands down and forming small fists around chest level as she swore she heard a more disbelieving chuckle along with the hammering. Her jaw clinched, “I will! I’ll get all one hundred in one move…” her head shifted, glaring where she felt her fists as her brows furrowed low and spoke lower to herself, “And if I don’t I’ll just keep trying until I do…”

There was a sizzle not far away as the old Assassin dropped down ungracefully next to her, “I don’t doubt that girl,” there was a grunt as he removed his pipe, tapping it to remove the burned herbs and a quick moment to replace them before holding it over the forge just enough to light and quickly replaced it, “If there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s to not doubt you _will_ do what you set your mind to…”

Yorihi was still as she released her hands and jaw and stared, to the best of her ability, at the old man, honestly surprised to hear words that almost sounded like praise.

The old man took a long drag on his pipe before releasing a long sigh, “You want to hear a truth?” he could feel the barely perceptible nod the girl absently gave, “You’ve already passed the training the whelp intended for you,” he could feel the surprise in the young girl and a small grin picked at the edge of his lips, “There is no _Shinobi_ I’ve ever met that would be able to exert the kind of control you’ve told me about, pure chakra is a force of nature, and you just told me you’ve managed to make a barrier of it to fend back those bats, make a pulse to stun and over-fill them, and I’m sure there are many other things you’ve managed to ‘figure out’ in your tasks…” there was a small grunt of a chuckle, “You’ve developed an impressive level of control over the large reserves you’ve nurtured, tell me girl, after your ‘pulse’ did you pass out?”

Yorihi blinked, “No,” she was surprised, she hadn’t really thought about it. She could feel the chakra in her fingertips and flexed her hand, remembering how it felt like she’d needed to _repress_ her chakra more then hold it up, “While hunting them before… I felt like I needed to repress my chakra… and even afterwards I still felt like I had plenty left…”

“See,” the old man nodded towards her hand, seemingly knowing what she was feeling, “When you first got here, you were tripping over your own feet, exhausted constantly, barely able to keep that cat and yourself alive, let alone your eyes on,” he grabbed his pipe and thought about the contrast and her growth, “I wouldn’t say your control is ‘perfect’, but I will say for the amount of chakra you have its almost unheard of, especially someone your age.” There wasn’t a single ‘child’ Shinobi he’d met with the amount she’d grown, hell, even _adult_ Shinobi, maybe their elites… and this was just considering what he felt _now_ , when the girl left these caves, devoid of the mountain’s hunger and having to maintain the cat’s life, it would double at least… and she’d have to relearn her control for such high amounts, but with the control she grasped in these caves he doubted it’d be more than a minor setback.

“What about to you?” there was a frown on her face and he could tell the small girl was serious, “How do I compare to you and Kemui-sama?”

He frowned, removing his pipe as his grey brows lowered over his shades; where had that come from? “You aren’t one of us girl, you shouldn’t think to compare-”

“Tell me!” she wasn’t particularly ‘loud’ as there was a force in her voice, she was serious. She wanted to know how she measured against _them_.

His frown increased, “You aren’t one of us,” he said a bit sterner, hoping she would understand. He could feel her chakra building under her skin, the twist in her brows, how much she wanted to change that because she _didn’t_ understand. He sighed, “That whelp never wanted you to follow our path…”

“I’ll make my own path,” he could hear her small fists grip on her knees, “You’re strong Tougemichi, and I know Kemui-sama is too, and I also know you both have a different kind of strength then my Father and the other Ninja… but…” for a moment she bit her lip, not sure if she should continue or not, before shaking her head and charging on ahead, turning to the old man, “You’ve both trained me, so there’s no reason I shouldn’t consider you both as much a part of me as the rest of my family!” he knew, from the intensity of her emotions she was looking straight at him, fists, body, eyes all still and direct on him, hoping he’d understand, “So tell me, how do I compare to _you_.”

Tougemichi was half-way ‘looking’ at her, shades half-aligned with her bandana, and he knew if he could see he’d probably find this whole situation hilarious. The edge of his lips raised and he loosed a dry chuckle, “Heh, guess there’s no point denying that,” he ran his free hand over his balding hair, “Girl, for a Shinobi you have excellent chakra-control… for _us_ , its decent, but our training focuses on different things…”

“Like what?” the girl immediately asked, knowing it was rare to get a straight answer from the old Assassin.

There was _almost_ the urge to pout at the girl’s jumping question, almost, “We focus on minimal reserves, but a chakra control you cannot obtain,” he lifted a hand feeling her protest coming before it even began, “There’s a reason girl,” his voice was low and harsh, conveying the certainty of this, “You can train all you want, as long as you want, but you will _never_ gain the kind of control we can, simple because you already have such large reserves, and I can tell you, they will only grow with you.”

The pout was obvious on her face as Yorihi lowered her shoulders in a mild acceptance, for now, “I don’t understand, why would having large reserves stop me from having the kind of control you have?”

“Heh,” there was that dismissive grunt she’d grown so used to, “Simple, the more dormant chakra, the harder to control overall,” he could feel her confusion at his words and a bit of a cruel smirk picked at his lips, “You can’t unmake the chakra you’ve already formed in your reserves…”

“Unmake?” a dark brow went down in confusion, “Why would someone want to…” her head tilted.

There was a dark chuckle from the old man, “What’s chakra made from?”

Her brows furrowed more, still confused, “physical energy and spiritual energy… but those aren’t controllable directly…”

“Aren’t they?” at her continued confusion a grinned evilly, “That’s what’s wrong with Shinobi, always thinking one way, hmp,” there was a snort as he felt the girl’s chakra bristle, “Physical training controls the growth and availability of physical energy, meditation and spiritual training help control the growth and availability of spiritual energy, but all Shinobi focus on is chakra once its formed and how to store it, dormant chakra,” the old man took a long drag on his pipe, “By relying on this they can’t control the rate their chakra is mixed and formed, and typically forcing it only damages the body,” there may have been a bit of a smug smirk on the old Assassin’s face, “ _We_ have such _refined_ control as to barely need any chakra, period, but we can also control the growth of both energies and regulate the formation of chakra,” there was a throaty chuckle, “In fact I can even take in the energy from the mountain around us if I wanted, reversing its natural absorption and channeling its energy to feed my own if I wanted…”

The little girl’s mouth dropped. Her master was capable of taking the energy around him? “H-how…?”

“Control,” was the old man’s quick answer as he replaced his pipe, “refined past the point of perfection, I’ve yet to meet a Shinobi capable of such a feat… though I get the feeling they’d somehow screw it up, hmp,” he snorted a puff of smoke, “but as for you, focus on the control you have, make it so no matter how much chakra you have, you use the bare minimum for what you need and make it give you the maximum output, that’s the kind of perfection you should aim for…”

Yorihi nodded firmly to herself, that was definitely a goal worth achieving… first perfecting her control on her ‘large’ reserves, then trying to figure out how to adapt her Teacher and Master’s control, if she could figure out how it worked…

“Heh, don’t even think about it,” the old man threw over his shoulder as he grabbed the blade from earlier with the tongs and put it back in the fire, “Though, I will admit, you have surprised me with how you’ve managed to find answers to training designed for our own technique…” he could feel her facing him again, obviously curious, “The tasks were originally designed to test the limits of _our_ control and mastery of our technique… I thought having to face such things would still be a learning experience for you, I see I was right.”

Yorihi frowned, for all his blustering about not teaching her like her Teacher… “How would it _normally_ work?” When he continued to focus on the forge and the heating of the sword she continued, “How did Kemui-sama beat the bats if she couldn’t use as much chakra as me?”

The old man was quite a moment, remembering how the training was _intended_ to go, “Stealth and speed,” he answered, grabbing the tongs and checking the blade, “That whelp took far longer than you to get it, but I don’t think that was solely her fault, the situations are different, your tools _different_ …” there it was, a large cold spot of impurities that had been bugging him the whole time. He got up, taking the white hot blade to the anvil and began hammering that piece out.

Yorihi set her head in her hands and supported them on her knees as she thought about what he said, absently listening to each hammer strike. Their _tools_ were different – _He tells me every chance he gets we aren’t the same…_ \- and the more she learned the more she realized her skill set was on the opposite side of the spectrum from her Teacher and the old man. She could barely sense him most of the time, his chakra kept so low, while her was in such abundance now it was ‘strange’ to remember how exhausted she used to feel all the time, did her reserves really grow that fast? – _Apparently…_ \- So she _literally_ had _too much_ chakra to control at the level they could, but already she could do so much with it, was it _really_ impossible to achieve that level with what she had? Maybe not now, but in the future…

“You look like you’re thinking of something,” the old man quipped over the hammer.

It took Yorihi a moment to pick out the irony of the statement. She glared at him behind her bandana but ignored it, “Is it really impossible to have the kind of control you have with my reserves?”

The old man gave a halfhearted shrug, bringing the hammer down again, “I don’t know,” another hammer strike, “To be honest, you are the first Shinobi I’ve ever met remotely interested in _how_ we do things,” he set the hammer down, running his now free hand over the hammered blade, a bit more, “Not to mention one that actually _sees_ us…”

Dark brows lowered over her bandana, “What do you mean?”

Without realizing it Tougemichi sighed, “My first master was a man in a distant country who sought strength to defend his family,” he laid the in-progress blade down, “The man who killed him wanted power to rule the country, the man after him sought gold, his wife killed him out of jealousy, the woman after her revenge… and she killed herself.” He picked up the hammer and went to work on the blade again.

“Tougemichi?” the girl’s voice was soft with the barest tremble in it, wondering why he told her that.

The hammer came down strong and he held it, “ _We_ only have one choice in our lives, the first person we serve, after that we serve whoever killed them,” he half turned towards her, “Tell me child, who does a weapon serve if there is no one left to hold it?” he could feel the turmoil as she tried to find an ‘answer’, she was young, he didn’t expect her to have one, “The reason I tell you this is so you understand when I tell you not one of those people saw me as more than their weapon…” he turned back to the blade, picking up the hammer and returning to his work, “… that is all we are.”

“B-but…” Yorihi bit her lip again, “didn’t you have family to return to? The same one as Kemui-sama, right?”

“Hmp,” there was a dry chuckle, “The _clan_ , when I returned I was unwelcomed, so I killed my father and assumed control as the leader, thirty years later my son took my position, but instead of killing me he ‘named’ me… I was _too good_ to continue being an Assassin, so they stripped that from me, in hopes I would teach others…” he set the hammer down, turning around with the unfinished sword in hand, “If you are known by any other name then ‘Assassin’ then you are no longer one,” he placed the blade back in the fire but stayed standing, “I told you before, ‘Tougemichi’ isn’t my true name…”

Yorihi frowned, looking down, “So Kemui-sama…”

“That’s the name they gave her when they threw her away,” there was a growl in his voice as he reached behind his shoulder to rub the soreness out, “I wouldn’t be surprised if she wiped them out herself, heh,” he cracked his neck, a bit of a sadistic grin catching at the edge of his lips, “Always had a bit of a temper, probably why she still acts like one,” then he laughed.

Yorihi didn’t know what to think. Strangely, she didn’t find it as strange as she thought she should, the idea that her Teacher could have taken out the rest of her clan. Not once during her whole time in Kumo had she met anyone like her Teacher, in fact she’d never even thought of a ‘family’ beyond the one she had for those she knew. Did Yugito have a family? Did her Father and Bee have any other siblings? How come she’d never met their parents, her grandparents? There had been Reki, but the woman didn’t seem _actually_ related to her Teacher, and she proudly wore a Kumo hitae-ate around her neck whereas Kemui-sama didn’t…

It was Tougemichi’s laugh that drew her out of her thoughts, “Tougemichi?”

“Heh,” he was grinning and ending his chuckle, “Nothing just… that whelp and I are the only ones left, yet neither of us are _really_ Assassins anymore because we’re both named… it’s just… stupid,” he shook his head absently.

Yorihi pouted, “I say you are,” she felt the old man face her, probably curious, “You’re not _Ninja_ , and the others are gone… so no one can say you’re not anymore, right?”

Against his will, the old man smiled, “Suppose that’s one way to look at it…” he was really starting to like this kid. – _Damn whelp, what’d you get me into…_ \- he ran a hand over his balding head, then nodded firmly to himself as he walked around the forge, bent down to grab something and made his way back to the girl, “Take that bandana off, your eyes should have been able to adjust enough for at least this…” he could feel the girl’s confusion, but quick enough heard the fabric move.

This was the first time Yorihi had taken the bandana off the entire time she had been in these caves, the first time she’d seen the world directly with her eyes in a long, long time. It was actually… disorienting, at first, seeing light at the bottom of her bandana was one thing, actually taking the thing off not only made her feel naked and wrong, but she had to adjust to the full vision and light. Without even realizing it her eyes activated as a response to the ‘ _odd_ ’ sensation, she actually felt _more_ comfortable feeling the chakra flow freely to them, allowing her eyes to not simply focus on the light in front of her but travel to all the room around her, the dark, the light and the shadows. She didn’t even feel the veins anymore and before she even checked the old man in front of held something out to her.

“I had planned to give these to you when I completed the set, but I feel since you’ve improved beyond my expectations, its time you started training with at least these,” in his hand were two sheathed katana, one just a bit shorter than the other but not enough to make it a short-sword.

At first she just stared, Tougemichi had introduced her to a number of weapons, giving her a basic training in anything she could pick up, and if not he had her train until she could pick it up and try again. He had said he didn’t expect her to fully master or be any good with any of them, just to introduce her to the things so when the time came she would have _some_ idea what to do with them. These were two katana, one full-length and the other just a bit shorter, but she could tell they were designed for an adult, not a child like her, so why would he think… her white eyes traveled to the old man’s shades, knowing he couldn’t see her eyes, but also knowing he would understand, “Why are you giving me these?”

“Because soon I won’t have much left to teach you and the sooner you learn how to use them the better,” she finally reached out just enough to ghost over the sheathed blades. Instantly the old man opened his hand to drop them, she did not disappoint him by instantly catching them, “These are the fruits of your first two years paid, when I finish the other two, your training with me will be over,” he turned back to the forge, to the third blade being difficult.

Yorihi barely registered her Master move away, she was still getting used to the weight of the two _real_ swords in her hands. They felt… _strange_ , she wasn’t sure if she wasn’t just overwhelmed by the sudden responsibility or if there was more to these blades then what Tougemichi had said. – _And what did he mean by ‘paid’?_ \- her white eyes drew away from the blades, turning towards the old man and trying to avoid the stark brightness of the forge, “What do you mean ‘paid’?”

The old man smirked as he shuffled the blade in the fire around, “All of my students pay something when they come to me,” he flipped the blade, “That whelp paid me with her eye, so I forged for her a single knife, you,” he nudged her way, “gave up four years you would have spent with your family, those four closest to you that you spoke so fondly of,” he pulled the blade out, the first time Yorihi could actually _see_ what he was doing, holding his hand palm towards the blade close enough she was surprised it didn’t burn, “So for each year you’ve spent here that you could have been learning from them, I shall forge you a sword.”

Dark brows lowered, “But Tougemichi,” her voice was soft as she looked down, gripping the swords in her lap, “That seems unfair… Kemui-sama…” she didn’t know what he meant by ‘paid with her eye’ as the woman had both but it didn’t seem the same as her apparent payment. She was here to train, but she knew it was also to keep her safe, both her Father and Teacher had told her at least that much.

“Fair?” he scoffed, replacing the blade in the fire, “What you paid is important to **_you_** , I’m blind and I can tell how much those close to you mean to you, and how this time apart from them means to **_you_** ,” he waved his free hand, “Don’t dwell on what that whelp paid, it was important to her, and her knife is the appropriate exchange, same as those swords,” his hand pointed directly at the ones in her lap even if he didn’t face her, “are part of the exchange for **_your_** payment,” he crossed his arms, facing the flames, “Trust me, someday, you will understand.”

White eyes watched the old man closely, taking in everything he said and gauging it. She knew he wasn’t lying to her, the old Assassin never seemed to lie directly to her, no point considering where they were he’d always said. That meant he was sincere, her eyes traveled back to the blades gripped tightly in her hands. The sheathes were smooth, the hilts gaurdless, if it weren’t for the bend of the lacquered wood and the weight she’d almost think they were just smooth sticks, but she knew what they were the moment he showed them to her, how? Even she couldn’t be sure. For a second, as her hand ghosted over the handle of the full-length one, she was tempted to draw it right then and there… but that wouldn’t be right.

In an instant the girl stood, pulling her bandana back down but keeping her eyes active she held one sword in each hand, and bowed, “Thank you, Tougemichi,” as she stood straight, she placed both within the sash around her waist, “As soon as I’m finished, I’ll get to work immediately practicing,” she turned back towards the table, her ‘work’ unfinished, “Have to finish my task first though…”

The old man smirked as he heard the girl go back to what she’d been doing before their conversation. – _She’ll do it right_ \- he nodded to himself, hearing her grip on the knife was correct and her motions smooth. The smirk grew on his lips, knowing the girl would find her way with those blades, same as she had with every other task he’d given her. – _Who knows… she might just master them before she leaves…_ \- a chuckle released from the old man’s chest.

And he knew she was smiling, agreeing with him weather she knew it or not.

\-----

Koumori – Bat/s


	10. Cute

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Training's over, its time to return home... Arc 3 concluded.

- _Precision and stillness…_ -

The girl breathed out.

- _Focus and calm…_ -

A slow, calm, barely there breathe in, her senses telling her a myriad different things. The scent of the caves, water, thin air, the bats surrounding her; even the oily scent of the large Bakeneko surrounding her, stalking along the cave walls. She could feel the presence of an entire colony of the flying evil rodents, the dampness of the stale air, the cold and stillness of the stone, even the light hum everything in this dark world emitted with the ever present flow of chakra around them, especially the swish of large forked tails and paws on the vertical stone. There was that electric taste in her mouth as she felt the chakra surrounding her, from Bachiko, the bats, the stone, everything along with the flavors of the domain. Though out of every sense the best she could do was hear it, the ultrasonic chittering of the bats, the reverberations in the walls, the distant drip of water somewhere and the sounds of _life_ in this desolate dark place…

- _Focus…_ -

Perhaps the greatest achievement she could attest to, her most neglected of senses, her sight. Like flipping an internal switch the dark world her useless eyes presented illuminated in vibrant colors as she watched the world, so dark and amorphous normally, become absorbed into a world of blinding life. The fires of life, the _truth_ of this desolate place she’d spent so long learning, the sight of a world drowned in nothing but chakra…

- _Calm…_ -

She remembered, a time ago, when this sight hurt, when its spherical vision of _everything_ was so astounding, so overwhelming, so _much_ she would get vertigo. Inside these caves this particular sight used to be painful, it wasn’t just looking into a direct flame, this was _seeing_ a bright white flame _all around_ her at once… but there was something important she learned in that.

- _Look at a flame long enough…_ -

She systematically focused on certain chakra types, namely the mountain, moss, anything other than the bats and Bachiko.

- _… and eventually it dims, showing you other things within._ -

Having focused her sight the mountain’s chakra became nothing but a dim haze, along with anything else she didn’t need. Her focus sharpened even further, eliminating the bats on the outskirts of her vision, the ones too far away to be affected by the sphere of chakra swirling around her body as a thin barrier between her and them. The ‘quick’ bats faded, still present like the mountain but not her primary target… all that was left was the handful by comparison nearest her, all sluggish as they’d drained bits of her own chakra…

There was a dark rumble from the walls.

The girl smirked, not moving from her perfect stillness, standing on one leg at the tip of a stalagmite with one hand raised in front in a half-ram symbol, index and middle fingers raised, as her focal point while the other remained at her side, as she felt, heard, smelled, tasted and _saw_ the large Bakeneko prowl the edges surrounding her. Her ‘enemy’ was getting tired of waiting. – _“Impatient.”_ -

The rumble increased slightly, garnering the attention from the ‘quick’ bats, not that they bothered the Bakeneko any…

The girl let the smirk linger a moment longer before taking a breath in…

- _small… unassuming… and can **cut**._ -

She held the image of a knife in her mind, the impression, the _feel_ of a small blade. She focused so hard and deeply on the image, forming every inch of the thing in her mind, giving it a perfect shape, a perfect edge, a perfect _blade_.

- _Focus…shape… form…_ -

The image held in her mind seemed to transfer to her free hand, chakra glowing visibly around the physical appendage…

- _Thinner… sharper…_ -

Her brows creased as she formed the object in her hand, or really as an extension of her hand, focusing all the chakra in her body not already occupied into that single concept. She could feel it, taking shape, taking form, tingling as it became exactly what she wanted it to be…

The girl smirked, ‘ _holding_ ’ her blades a moment as her eyes focused on all of her targets…

- _GO!_ -

It was a sudden **_snap!_** As Yorihi waved her hand in an arc, spinning on her small point releasing everything she had pent up for this single moment. Stillness to mask herself, precision to find her targets, focus to form her attack and calm to keep it all together…

The colony of bats scattered, losing interest as a large number of them were pinned to the walls by chakra knives… which disappeared quick enough having nothing to maintain them and started to drop. Yorihi moved quickly, not having the time to admire her work because she knew the ‘bolts’ she’d fired to pin Bachiko wouldn’t hold him for long, so she had to grab as much of her quarry as possible before the ghost cat could move to ‘interfere’ again…

- _Just need a hundred… just need a hundred… JUST **NEED** A **HUNDRED!!**_ -

It became a small mantra running through the girl’s head as she zipped around quick as possible, ignoring what bats remained as her only concern was getting her target number… and avoiding her ‘enemy’ at the same time.

- _…14…15…22…23…_ -

She snagged another, tossed it in the bag she’d taken with her, and went to grab the next handful as she felt the chakra bolts she’d thrown at her ‘friend’ dissipated. Bachiko growled, flaring his ghostly fur as he went to work chomping down on any within reach…

_-33… ignore him… 36… still falling… 42… pick up the pace!_ -

She channeled chakra into her limbs and _burst_ from the wall, accelerating as she could feel Bachiko catching up, his larger form swatting bats fleeing out of the sky giving her another obstacle to overcome: catching the _right_ ones!

- _Damnit! 56… stop screwing with me!!... 63…_ -

The girl growled, she **_growled_** and Bachiko knew he’d just pissed her off.

- _“Stop smirking!!”_ \- She yelled at the cat in her mind grabbing her 73rd? one… - _Damnit!! Losing count!!_ \- She shook her head, focusing, keeping track. She only needed thirty more and they were so close to the floor…

Bachiko grinned then jumped off the wall, puffing himself out to grab as many as possible while willing himself down to land on top of her.

- _80… uh..._ \- “Crap!!” several of the ‘slow’ bats she’d pierced already hit the floor, - _Less than twenty…_ \- the girl bolted off a stalagmite, causing a large crack in the ages old stone but she didn’t have time for that. - _88… 92… 96… 98…99!!_ \- She felt a large looming presence above her, just _knowing_ it was _him_ about to grab her and make her fail. – _onemoreonemoreonemoreonemoreONEMORE!!_ \- Yorihi’s mind was racing, so close to her goal, so hard she’d worked, so **_close_** to losing again!!

Her eyes caught the sight of one of the last bats she’d gotten falling and she made a break for the damn thing!!

Bachiko crashed into the ground, breaking ground, causing a tremor and shaking the entire room.

“GOT IT!!” a single small hand reached out from underneath the large Bakeneko waving around one final bat, skewered through the chest, right between the wings, and ‘saved’ right before hitting the ground and causing any further damage…

Vibrant blue eyes looked around him, spotting an arm coming out from under one haunch, saw the bat, looked to the side, and saw the bag she’d used to contain them also undamaged. The large ghost cat growled, ears flat and eyes narrow before he shrunk down to his ‘compact’ size ending up sitting right on top of his ‘master’s’ chest. He waved his forked tails back and forth just narrowly glaring at the girl, even if she couldn’t _see_ it he knew she’d know.

And boy was she grinning.

Before Bachiko had a moment to scowl further the girl propped her upper body out of the rubble and hugged him tightly, nearly squeezing the life out of him as she rubbed her face along his ghostly form, not even caring that one hand still had a bleeding-dead bat in it, “I **_FINALLY_** got it!!”  she held him out, bat still in one hand and grin not leaving her face, “I don’t know how long it’s been but I **_FINALLY_** got it!!” the girl let him go, holding up her ‘winning’ bat, “One hundred in one blow!! _YES!!_ ” after that jovial cheer the girl proceeded to do a small victory dance while still seated.

Bachiko couldn’t help it, looking at his master, seeing and feeling her joy… a grin broke out across his face. Seemed his work here was done.

Yorihi finally hopped up, knocking over the grinning cat, grabbing the bag of her catch, tossing her final win inside and turned towards further into the caves, “C’mon, we’ve got to show Tougemichi!!” the girl excitedly pumped her fist as she started back.

Bachiko could only stare from his sprawled position, blink, correct himself and grin. In a few months it would be two years since her initial announcement of that goal, their time in these caves was finally coming to an end, and his master had managed to accomplish what she’d set out to do… mostly. Sure there were a few ‘goals’ she had that weren’t done, but they could be done outside this place, the ‘one hundred in one blow’ was something she could only do _here_ , and she’d managed that, everything else would come in time. He grinned to himself before getting up and quickly trotting after the girl.

Oh, the things his master could do.

\-----

Tougemichi could feel the girl’s enthusiasm long before she came within physical sensing range. He knew she would accomplish her personal ‘task’, he’d allowed extra time to give her that opportunity, not that he’d ever say it. The enthusiasm pouring into the tunnels ahead of her meant she’d finally accomplished it, her goal of ‘one hundred in one blow’ with the bats, an admirable feat if he said so himself, certainly a worthy accomplishment… for a Shinobi. He tried not to smirk, he really did, the differences between their abilities was tangible so he should be impressed that one without their skill was capable of finding a way of doing such, with such precision and skill, especially when she was so young and trying so hard to copy something she didn’t know or ever could accomplish.

If she could perform such a skill on a battlefield mixed with enemies and allies alike it would truly be a worthy skill… for a Shinobi. _They_ stuck to the shadows, area skills were not what they were designed for; quick, clean, unseen strikes were _their_ skill…

Still…

There was this nagging feeling in the back of the old man’s mind, like he should be _impressed_ and not caring about the gulf that separated them. There was a disgruntled grunt as he snorted smoke through his nose. – _Like that would happen…_ -

As Yorihi rounded the wall into the living area she paused, something was off. The forge wasn’t lit; Tougemichi was seated on it, one leg across the other propping up one hand that held his pipe.

… and there was another person kneeling not far from the old man.

With her ‘normal’ sight everything was black as she dropped the bag of bats at her feet, taking slow measured steps towards her master, ignoring the other person. The closer she stepped the more she sensed; the person was bound, their ankles underneath them, their hands behind their back, along with a gag in their mouth and hood over their head. She could smell and taste the acrid fear coming off them, hear as they struggled against the tight bonds and grunt, feel them struggle, giving off both fear and aggression. She stopped several feet from her master, the person not far to her left, a quick flash with her chakra sight and she could see they had nearly double the reserves of Tougemichi, but she didn’t know if that meant anything, the old man liked to suppress himself to almost nothing, the fact he was showing so much right now was probably just for her own sake to gauge the person. It was like they were a test or something…

She faced the old Assassin, remembering the word her Teacher had called him, for some reason feeling it better to use that in this instance, with _company_ , “Senshu?”

There was another grunt from the old Assassin, it almost sounded approving? There was a quick movement with the man’s hand and in an instant there was a knife in Yorihi’s face-

The prisoner flinched, trying to struggle, though _away_ or in fear was either’s guess.

As quick as the knife had come at her Yorihi had grabbed it, her body still except for the quick movement of her own arm, the blade gripped in her left hand and barely a fraction from cutting into the fabric that covered her eyes. She lowered her hand, knife still in hand.

For some reason, it felt like the edge of the Assassin’s lip quirked up for the smallest of moments, “Kill them.”

The girl’s grip on the knife tightened, and at first she did nothing, ignoring the struggles of the bound person, the hissing of Bachiko at her feet, the stillness of the entire area. Her sole focus was on the Assassin, “Why?”

There was an imperceptible movement on his face, not approving, not disproving, “You are too old to not know what it means to kill…” for some reason the girl’s grip on the blade lessened as he breathed out more smoke, “That whelp came to me to train the same age as you and she already had death around her, Shinobi _wait_ for some reason to kill,” a powerful arm shot out, pointing directly at the girl, “You, are **_my_** student, Shinobi or not, no student of mine will leave this place without knowing what it means to kill…”

Her jaw clinched, fingers flinched and her entire demeanor seemed to tense…

Tougemichi ‘watched’ her, having all his senses observing her actions, his mind’s eye forming the picture in his mind. She wasn’t resisting as he thought she would – _good_ -, “You asked me ‘why?’ I will tell you,” he removed the pipe from his mouth, holding it in one hand as his features became serious, he knew the girl could not ‘see’ him, but he also knew she could feel it, knew she was speaking to the _real_ Assassin he was, “People let others live simply for the sake of them being alive, so tell me,” he pointed again at her, “Why not, by the same logic, _kill_ them for the simple sake of them being alive?”

Some of the tenseness left the child as she refocused on him.

“ _That_ is what _we_ do,” his hand lowered as his presence increased, “ _We_ have no more reason to kill then others are alive. Shinobi make reasons, things like ‘love’, ‘hate’, **_bonds_** of family, friendship, clan, village, country…” the Assassin crossed his arms, “Those things mean _nothing_ to _us_ … we do not exist, so we are free from those burdens…”

“Bonds can make people stronger,” the girl’s voice was low and solid as she stared straight at the Assassin, the image of her family, those she cared for in her mind.

Oddly, the Assassin nodded, “Yes, they can, the many can overcome an individual, but,” he raised one hand making a point, “Those same bonds can become a poison that leads to destruction,” the Assassin placed his hands in his sleeves, quiet a moment discerning how he could teach this _Shinobi_ what he truly meant, “Tell me, what would your ‘family’ do if you refused to kill this person and I released them, allowing them to torture, rape, and kill you for their freedom?” he paused, letting his threat sink in, feeling as the girl stiffened, the ghost cat at her heels flare and start to growl menacingly, _that_ had their attention at least, even if she didn’t understand fully what it meant, “I will tell you,” black shades in darkness turned on the ‘blind’ girl again, feeling her hidden gaze on him, “Your sister and uncle would go on a rampage in their grief, your father would start a war from his pain, and that whelp,” there was a slight pause as he breathed out smoke, “if your Father doesn’t kill her himself, she would take her own life for failing so pathetically…”

Yorihi was still, just the thought of her family doing such… all because of her… because she didn’t…

“ ** _That_** is what bonds do, **_that_** is what Shinobi hold so dear and why they are _always_ at war, always in pain, always suffering,” the barest of sighs escaped the old Assassin, “Because not one of them learns to be selfish, learns that what they _feel_ is not important beyond them, that they are _tools_ with one purpose!” there was a growl in his voice, “ _We_ do not have this luxury, the only choice _weave_ is the first one we serve, and after that we are obligated to serve those that _kill_ the one who means the most to us,” the Assassin’s voice lowered, as if he was looking away, “ _we_ cannot afford ‘hate’ like you can…”

Yorihi took a half step forward, almost as if to say something-

When one hand whipped out, firm and aggressive, “Kill this person, because I have told you, whether or not it starts a war or prevents one should mean _nothing_ to you…”

Yorihi gripped the knife the old man had given her, raised it to her chest and tried absorbing everything he had said…

“Kill them,” the Assassin’s voice was lower, sharper, and directed solely at her, “Because they are alive…”

For a moment, everything clicked… and in an instant her hand reached out, quick as a flash and with practiced ease she slit the person’s throat.

Neither said a word or moved an inch as the prisoner struggled to breathe, falling over and drowning in their own blood. Bachiko was the first to move, his vibrant blue eyes wide and staring at the first ‘other’ person he’d seen in years aside from his master and the old Assassin… and found it hard to believe his master had just taken their life. All because the old Assassin had said so… the Bakeneko hopped over the body, confirming it was dead as he felt the shimmer of all this person was be absorbed into his body, mind, heart and soul. What he didn’t realize was the same sensation traveled through the bond to his master…

Yorihi dropped to her knees, dropping the bloody knife, and stared vacantly into the darkness around her. It was that same feeling again, that deep, dark, emptiness that was painful in its stillness which triggered a run of every other time she had felt it, even jogging things back into their rightful place that the Nibi had tried to rid her of… Striking her attacker in her room that left her hand numb for a week, seeing them not move after Bachiko had finished them, watching her Teacher meticulously take a man apart because they threatened her or her father, being in the presence of the Nibi in its dark domain, watching as her Teacher  placed her blade at her former uncle’s throat, being covered in blood from the man that tried to take her, the first time she’d met the Raikage as she watched him kill her original kidnapper… the emptiness she felt when told her mother was never coming back.

A large stubby hand came down on her shoulder, causing the girl’s tearstained face to look up into the blackness, somehow just _knowing_ Tougemichi would be staring at her if he had eyes, “The shock fades,” his hand moved to grab her arm and pull her to her feet, “But the feel of loss never does,” the old man’s grip on her arm tightened just the smallest bit, showing his sincerity, “Never forget that sorrow, treasure that pain,” his hand trailed down, pulling her hand out, her other following instinctively as he placed something long and cylindrical in her open hands, “it means you are alive,” once she had gripped the swords he handed her, wrapped in some leather straps, his hands went to both her upper arms, causing her to ‘look’ in his direction probably the same as his shades would be, “and you are **_not_** a monster.” The moment his final words left his lips so did his hands from her arms as the short old Assassin moved away.

Yorihi was still for a long moment, still feeling the tears on her cheeks as her hands gripped around the smooth sheaths of her final two swords. She breathed in deeply, knowing exactly what this meant.

Her training was over.

Oddly, this revelation wasn’t as cheerful as she thought it should be. A heavy weight entered her chest as she thought about it, she’d get to go back home, back to her family yes… but… “Tougemichi…” the girl turned, listening as his footfalls halted, a heavy silence filling in the distance between them. - _Does this mean I’ll never… never meet you again?_ -

The old man sucked on his pipe, causing a flicker of light in the darkness from the red ember before he held the smoke then slowly breathed it out in that growling sigh, “Remember what I’ve taught you girl, especially this last lesson,” a frown etched on his face, not that either could see it, “you killed that person with nothing but a knife, no techniques, no tricks, no long drawn out strategy,” he seemed to move to the side, grabbing his well-worn staff, “humans are small, fragile creatures that die simply and quickly, there is no need to glorify that, no need to draw it out, if you have the opportunity to strike down those in your path do so, even if they are Kami itself,” there was a resounding **_Tap!!_** As he slammed his staff making the point clear, “shed tears for them, cherish the pain and sorrow of loss, but do not forget once they are dead that is all…” he seemed to turn to the girl, the true Assassin back for this solitary moment.

“Why did you have to teach me this?” hands gripped tightly on the new swords as she spoke with a lower voice, not sure what to think.

“Because anyone else would have taught it wrong,” there was a distinct **_tap!_** Of the well-worn staff as the old man moved towards the end of the room, “Shinobi glorify death, having _pride_ in the numbers of lives they take with such wasteful means…” he paused at the door, back to the girl and somehow both knowing it, “ _We_ only kill, nothing more, nothing less…” for a moment, it seemed something softened as the old man’s voice lowered, “we know the value of taking a life, as my student, I want you to know it as well.”

With that, he was gone, and Yorihi was left alone with her thoughts and the body of the first person she truly killed…

\-----

It was cold.

Something about the sensations of the place made her mind focus on that, despite the fact she had been to this place several times previously in her life and never once before had the snowy mountain air or hard stone bothered her or her body vaguely register that odd detail.

Kemui sat on the large stone with the indent from the stick four and some years ago, now having chipped a large chunk away from the water seeping in and freezing for several seasons creating a large crack that separated a large section of the slab from the part she was seated on in a meditative position; legs crossed, back straight, fingers intertwined in her lap with her thumbs touching pointing up as her breathing was slow and barely recognizable. Her mind was clear, her body still, energies mindlessly channeled throughout her system as if part of a mantra to pass the time…

…and it was cold.

There was a sneeze not far away as the only other living thing within miles shivered futilely.

“It’s cold sensei…” the young woman sniffed, feeling the insides of her nose trying to drain so her sinuses wouldn’t freeze behind her cute face.

A single grey eye opened slightly to take in the look of her current apprentice. Mabui was 16, almost 17, with the normal dark skin of those that were native to Rai no Kuni, with light grey hair kept short aside from the bangs that framed her face and blue-green eyes staring directly at the older woman. The teen was shivering, futilely holding the upper part of her short off-black kimono sleeves, its high collar doing little to protect her neck from the frigid winds and as that sole grey eye tilted down Kemui could only sigh as she had told the girl to wear something longer and warmer then that skirt… at least she was wearing knee-high boots, better than her normal small sandals…

That grey eye closed as the white woman breathed out slowly, “I told you we would be going into the mountains…”

The teen shivered and huddled into herself pitifully as those wide blue-green eyes stared at her sensei pleadingly adorable.

Sadly such displays were ineffective on the older woman, especially since her eyes were closed as she gave the barest of sighs… trying _really_ hard to not smile and chuckle at the girl’s misfortune, “There is very little to be done about it now,” she gave a small ruffle, not because she was _cold_ or anything, that would be silly… there was snow on her shoulder, that was all.

Those blue-green eyes glared as the teen gave a huff and started pacing in front of her sensei, rubbing her upper arms futilely to keep the feeling of warmth in despite the cold surroundings. Mabui had spent almost a year ‘training’ under the illustrious ‘Last Assassin’ Kumo had, and while initially she had been highly confused why _she_ of anyone in the village would be chosen as the best candidate to effectively _replace_ the scary woman as the Raikage’s primary assistant she had learned quite a bit about the woman she may or may not have idolized as a kid in the academy. Outwardly the white woman was demure, quite, completely forgettable despite her loud colorings in Kumo but it was her presence that had most people afraid of her, not just her reputation. Kumo was a village of confident, and dare she say it, _BADASS_ shinobi, survival was their primary goal, and the best way to go about it was being individually strong. No one in Kumo was afraid to be sent off to do anything alone, they had less resources then other villages, especially the other 4 major ones, but they were strong with quality individuals as opposed to large teams. So for someone to literally be able to _walk down the street_ in Kumo and the crowd part like a procession was coming through for _ONE_ person was very telling, even for her when she was little and _saw_ such an action.

… and the woman was so small.

Mabui had paused in her pacing long enough to glance at the meditating Assassin. The woman couldn’t be more than 5’ 2” she figured, she’d yet to get around to actually _getting_ a tape measure and tallying it, but she was convinced in a year or two she would be taller than the white woman if she wasn’t already. Yet despite her size was one of the most respected and feared people in the village, her mere presence made one think she towered over them just by those grey eyes looking at anyone directly. Standing her next to the Raikage and Hachibi container, one almost forgot the severe difference in stature because they all gave off this confidence and lethality that was almost otherworldly. They were _giants_ in Kumo, the Nibi container who was of similar size to her sensei was new amongst the pantheon having proved herself capable of standing toe to toe with those three… heck even the old cripple of a commander of ANBU and that desk clerk gave off the same presence of being monsters in human skin…

… And Mabui, quiet, off to the side, shoved in a corner, only-hoping-to-make-chuunin _Mabui_ was now intimately familiar with these people. – _If my graduating class could see me now…_ \- mentally the young woman sighed, remembering that at least half of them were dead now.

She had nearly had a heart attack when she had been called to the Raikage’s office, tried very hard not to squirm when the Oni of a man gave her a once over with those sharp black eyes before nodding to someone outside her vision. That was the first time she had actually _met_ the infamous Assassin, as the white haired woman gracefully walked over to her with a pleasant smile and placid demeanor. It was far more unnerving then she’d ever admit, but the grey haired girl was also convinced both powerhouses knew just by looking at her.

That had been the beginning of her ‘ _apprenticeship_ ’, to learn how to be a proper assistant for the Raikage, learning the ins and outs of not only the entire managerial system; it was far more complicated than she ever realized, their defense systems; she could not believe how many layers of dummy systems they had… and _ANBU_ was only scratching the surface, the R &D she like most anyone in Kumo liked to avoid those people as much as possible… so she was scared out of her mind having to go back to that place weekly, and various other ‘systems’ she had no idea her village employed to protect itself… all of it culminating in the select few that had direct access to the Raikage, and most processed and organized by non-other than that _Assassin_! Mabui was convinced she still had a lot to learn, her sensei’s sudden shift to teaching Intelligence-Gathering/Counter-Intelligence aside from just going off and ‘assassin-ing’ people was definitely something that piqued her interest, but the sheer amount of knowledge, _Top-Secret-Classified_ knowledge being put on her was somewhat… astounding. She was too busy learning these things the Assassin did automatically that she never had much time to really spend asking the woman questions.

… But that had only been in the beginning, now she had picked up the habits of the white haired woman, recognizing threats, potential-threats, and learning the deeper ‘mysteries’ of spying/counter-spying that now, almost a year later she was almost bored. Mabui knew there was still plenty more to learn, and she _definitely_ didn’t feel as ‘capable’ as she felt she should be to be the Raikage’s true assistant, but whenever she expressed these concerns to her sensei, the woman would just give the barest of smiles and tell her ‘not to compare’ her and the Assassin. It was both comforting and insulting all at once, and Mabui wasn’t sure how to fully take it… though it did give her a heightened drive to perfect her ‘unique’ skill and prove herself capable to her sensei.

So she was rather proud of herself when on instinct she stopped in her pacing and leaned just enough to dodge some high speed object the grey haired teen hadn’t even sensed. Blue-green eyes moved to see that whatever-it-was had flown passed the Assassin and the white haired woman hadn’t so much as moved despite there being a knife of some sort embedded into the wall behind her.

Mabui blinked.

“Aww… Nee-chan didn’t even catch it!”

At the high pitched voice of a young girl the teen stiffened… then she noticed the barest of imperceptible smiles pique at the edges of her sensei’s lips.

“Hey, you’re not Nee-chan?”

Blue-green eyes shifted as suddenly there was a little girl standing next to her – _When did-?-_ the small child poked her in the stomach and the teen seemed to teleport three feet away.

Yorihi just stood there, hand raised in a ‘poke’ gesture as her head tilted slightly.

_That_ was when Mabui finally registered the _massive_ amount of chakra filling the area. In a slight panic she glanced around not finding anything remotely strange, other than the girl that seemed to pop up out of nowhere… blue-green eyes landed back on the girl – _no… WAY?!_ \- a grey brow twitched on her forehead. – _how… HOW did I miss THAT?!_ \- she was a sensor type, relatively ‘lower’ base reserves with higher control capable of recognizing the proper amounts of chakra needed to do techniques and gauging others chakra capacity. Her sensei barely registered as a civilian, the Raikage, when controlled, was huge, both Jinchuuriki were off the scale! This girl… this _little girl_ was passively producing enough chakra to cloud the entire area and didn’t seem to even notice!

“Huh?” the dark haired girl finally lowered her hand, resting it easily on the top of one of her four swords.

That was something else Mabui just had to stare at… - _Why does a CHILD have four adult-sized SWORDS?!_ -

“You’ve grown,” came a soft voice Mabui barely recognized. Blue-green eyes shifted to her nearly forgotten sensei as the white haired woman seemed to gracefully move from her meditative position, only opening her eyes halfway when she stood half the distance towards the little girl with her hands tucked into her thick kimono sleeves.

The sound of the Assassin’s voice had an instantaneous effect on the small girl, as a wide grin spread across the visible lower portion of her round face, “Kemui-sama!!” the girl didn’t face the woman, instead her head just tilted slightly towards the Assassin as if listening to her approach.

_That_ was when the dark skinned teen finally realized the pale young girl had a dark blue bandanna covering her eyes. – _She’s blind?!_ \- Mabui blinked, nope it was still there, her sensei giving that furtive smile she’d only seen the woman give in small moments to her son to some random, chakra-powerhouse, four-swords-wielding, **_blind_** girl with a face splitting grin. Then there was the even stranger moment as the white haired woman got within arm’s distance and the girl seemed to pounce her sensei.

On instinct Mabui had pulled out her hidden short sword…

Then felt entirely silly a moment later as the girl was only giving the Assassin a bone-crushing hug.

- _… Wait_ -

The little pale girl with the long midnight-blue hair, in a roughed-up way too small sleeveless kimono held together by a leather belt with holsters specifically made for those four swords and two pairs of stone looking armbands on the upper part of her arms was latched onto the midsection of one of Kumo’s most infamous, scary, and unapproachable killers, practically nuzzling into the white woman’s chest. And the Assassin? She had this light furtive smile and seemingly ‘happy’ glance in her cloudy grey eyes as she too wrapped her long-sleeved arms around the small girl squeezing death out of her.

“I-I missed you so much Kemui-sama,” the girl’s voice cracked as she spoke lowly and sniffled.

The motherly-acting Assassin seemed to only raise one pale hand and run it along the girl’s grown out hair, hugging her tighter as her voice spoke softly, “I know…”

A bit of color crossed Mabui’s face as she realized this was an extremely intimate moment and was probably intruding. Instantly the assistant-in-training turned around, shoulders hiked up around her ears as she felt entirely uncomfortable with what she’d just seen. She’d never seen the scary, larger-than-life, _badass_ Assassin look like that… so… _human_ and reachable. Well, not ‘entirely’, she had caught small glimpses of the woman like that with her son… but that was her _son_ , so that was expected to be an exception, right? – _So… who is this girl?_ \- Blue-green eyes glanced to the side as she bit her lip cutely, _really_ tempted to turn back around and ask what all was going on… _THAT WAS DESTROYING HER WORLD?!_

“Hmp…”

A grunt off to the side caught the teen’s attention, and before she really thought about it, the young chuunin turned to see a short old man with dark skin, grayed hair on his balding head in a red outfit oddly similar to her sensei’s if she really thought about the material too long, and a large gnarled staff between his stubby hands. Oh, and the black shades that seemed to be pointing at the ‘scene’ she had turned away from…

“You’ve gone soft, whelp,” the old man grunted, taking marginal steps as he seemed to not affect the snow or anything around him towards her sensei and the girl.

Grey eyes sharpened as the white haired Assassin seemed to gain an extra foot looking at the oddly-shorter old man. _That_ look was something Mabui expected from her sensei, “So what if I have, Senshu?”

The old man’s grayed balding head tilted slightly, the teen wondering if he was surprised by the come back? – _its sensei, she doesn’t take smack from no one!_ \- Mabui may have been a bit biased, but she didn’t see why this old geezer thought he could judge her sensei, his presence and reserves were nearly non-existent! And while her sensei’s were small, sure, Mabui knew from experience the woman was deadly despite that… - _Wait_ \- the young sensor rethought about that line of thinking, if her sensei had barely civilian level chakra reserves and was such a badass, and this old guy’s were literally _non-existent_ then did that mean… - _oh, crap!_ \- Blue-green eyes seemed to widen as her brain made the right connections.

… not that anyone was paying _her_ any mind…

Tougemichi gave this sinister grin to his elder student, “Four?”

The young girl seemed to finally let go of the elder woman, stepping off to her side but still holding tight to the Assassin’s right hand as Kemui glared sternly at the old man, “A lot has changed these past four years…”

“Hmp,” there was a dismissive shrug from the old man as the young girl seemed to pique a brow, probably wondering what the two adults were talking about, “You’ve still overexerted yourself…” another ruffle, “… even if you have grown in other ways.”

A white brow rose on the pale woman’s forehead, “You can tell,” it was more statement then question as her voice spoke flatly to the old man.

“Who do you think I am,” the frown deepened on the old man’s face, yet neither bothered to elaborate more on whatever subject they were talking about. Mabui could tell the girl holding her sensei’s hand was following their conversation as she tilted her ears towards whoever was speaking, but the teen felt she was probably just as lost as she was…

- _The ‘adults’ are talking Mabui, just be quiet and watch…_ \- she gave a mental sigh, not moving an inch outwardly since she was afraid attracting attention to herself would spark some kind of bloodbath.

“She passed all the tests,” the old man finally broke the silence, grunting dismissively all the while, “Quicker than you I might add,” there may or may not have been a sinister smirk picking at the edge of his mouth… like the old man was purposely trying to make digs at the white woman.

Sharp grey eyes glared lightly at the old man, “how long was she there?”

“The entire time,” were those fangs? It certainly looked like the old man had fangs as his grin widened more evilly causing Mabui to have to suppress a shutter lest she be caught.

White brows dipped in the middle, oh she knew that look, her sensei was _not_ happy to hear that, “She could have died…” was that a growl?

“Yet the girl didn’t,” the old man was smug as he tapped his staff on the hard ground to get a better spot to lean on.

Mid-glare something seemed to pass those grey eyes, almost like concern, “What about-”

“He’s fine Kemui-sama,” the girl’s bell-like voice drew all their attention, she was smiling widely, face turned towards the white woman as she shook her hand, “He’s actually quite happy to see you too!”

Mabui had to force down the grey brow that wanted to rise. – _Who? There’s no one else her-_ the thought was abruptly cut off as OUT-OF- _NOWHERE_ a dark blue-black cat seemed to materialize on her sensei’s opposite shoulder… nuzzling her. Mabui was fighting back every instinct she had to not flip out and scream as the ghostly _two-tailed_ cat was _NUZZLING_ her sensei! She knew for a fact that woman **_despised_** cats!

Kemui seemed surprised too, if not as obviously as her current apprentice, but the raised white brow was a bit of a tell. Then she raised her free left hand as the ghostly feline stopped nuzzling her to scratch him under the chin, his vibrant blue eyes closed as a light purr filled the area… and without realizing it the white woman had a light smile on her face, surprising herself in actually being glad to see the damnable creature, still alive and feeling far different from the last time they had met.

“See,” the old man’s growling voice broke the moment as his staff gave a distinct **_tap!_** To draw their attention, “the beast is still quite alive.”

“Impressive,” Kemui said without thought, lowering her hand as the cat stretched along the back of her shoulders to hop down on to his master, quite pleased with himself to wrap around the child’s neck. The sharpness reentered the elder woman’s eyes, though not as hard as before, “Still…” those steel eyes refocused on the old man, “four years there… _and_ the tests?” her lips were in a flat line, obviously not pleased with this information.

There was a dismissive shrug from the short old man, “She’s alive, with more control than I thought possible for one of _them_ …” absently one of his hand rose from his staff the rub his scruffy beard, “Though now without that restraint, she’ll have to relearn it for her full reserves…”

The girl next to Kemui seemed to only smile sweetly at the old man, not minding the ghostly feline on her shoulders one bit, “Don’t worry, Tougemichi, I know how it’s supposed to act with my full control, it’s just a matter of adjusting to the larger reserves I have out here!”

Both Assassins, and Mabui, stared at the confidently smiling little blind girl, though the Assassins were the only ones that broke out into smiles, one sinister for the old man and soft for the white woman.

Mabui was just deeply confused by what was going on…

“And her other training?” the female Assassin’s voice cut the mildly jovial atmosphere, eyes sharp again on the old man.

“Hmp,” again that dismissive grunt as he stroked his beard, “why do you think I took her there in the first place…”

That seemed to be all the response the white woman needed as she gave a light nod, “Mabui.”

Said girl jumped, having hoped they’d completely ignore her, “H-hai!”

Those grey eyes were still sharp as they looked at the teen, obviously serious but in no way meaning the kind of harm she obviously did towards the old man, “Send the message to Lord Raikage.” The order was quick, and obviously she was forgotten the moment it was spoken.

“Hai, Sensei,” the young woman gave a small bow before removing a scroll from her back pouch, undoing the string that held it closed and setting it on the ground in a flourish, opening it wide to a large seal. Kneeling down Mabui removed another smaller scroll from the same pouch, placing it on the center of the seal before running her hands through a set of seals ending in a Ram sign then placing one hand the scroll, “ _Tensou no Jutsu!_ ” in an instant the smaller scroll lit up in a flash before streaking into the sky like a bolt of lightning.

“Cool!”

“Ack!” Mabui fell over from the suddenly close high pitched voice. After taking a moment to right herself, and remember how to breathe, blue-green eyes glanced up to see the little girl standing just on the other side of her scroll, head tilted slightly to the left while that weird cat on her shoulder seemed to be staring at her with those intense blue eyes. Feeling oddly embarrassed under the creature’s gaze and the girl’s sudden proximity, the older teen blushed, “Um…?”

“Was that something Kemui-sama taught you?” the girl asked innocently, face turned in the general vicinity of just above Mabui’s head.

Blue-green eyes blinked, “Um… no?” why did she have to make that sound like a question? Shaking her head the grey haired teen suddenly jumped up, coughed lightly and tried to reign in her dignity… this was just a little girl, no reason to be nervous – _a blind, sword-wielding, chakra powerhouse little girl…_ \- her mind seemed to want to remind her as she glanced and caught sight of that weird cat again, its intense stare really freaking her out. Her face flushed again, “No, it’s my own personal technique…”

“Neat,” the girl seemed to grin widely, even if she was now facing around Mabui’s midsection, it was slightly unnerving.

Grey brows lowered in confusion as something seemed to pick up in her mind, “how did you know I did the technique, you’re blind?” aside from completely ignoring the fact she’d said the name out loud, it did seem rather odd the girl seemed to know she’d done something interesting.

Again the girl’s head seemed to tilt, Mabui was starting to wonder if that was her tick for saying the answer was obvious, “just because I can’t see it doesn’t mean I can’t feel the chakra,” absently one of the girl’s pale hands pointed up towards the sky, “it was moving really fast,” that arm reached out and pointed in some arbitrary direction, “and while I can’t track the chakra anymore, I can still hear it moving that way…”

Mabui blinked. Then blinked again. – _Did she just say that…_ \- another blink for good measure, “You… you can track it?”

Head tilt the other way, “Of course, can’t you?” the answer was so blunt and so honest it seemed to be the most obvious thing in the world to the little girl.

Mabui _almost_ let her jaw drop. She was a chakra sensor type, and damn good at it too, or so she thought, and while the _Tensou_ was _her_ technique, even she could barely track the thing! It was why she needed the exact coordinates of where the transfer was going! If she could sense and track the thing at the speed it was going, sure she’d be able to control it better, but it was going faster than light, how in the world did this little girl keep track of it?!

Yorihi’s head tilted the other way again, lowering her arm, “Oh… it’s gone,” absently she scratched Bachiko behind one of his ears, “That’s really far…”

Blink.

“So, are you Kemui-sama’s student?” the girl was grinning towards the taller chuunin.

Blink, “in a manner of speaking…” Mabui couldn’t stop staring at the girl, she was really starting to freak her out, “… yes?” why didn’t she sound as confident as she normally did while answering that question?

If possible, the girl’s grin became brighter, “So you’re my Kouhai!”

Grey brows lowered highly confused, “what?”

Again the girl’s head tilted, and if the older teen didn’t know any better that cat was grinning at her, “Well I trained with Kemui-sama before training under Tougemichi, and you’re her student now,” she seemed to be absently fiddling with her hands as if making some odd point, “So… since I was taught first, and you second, that makes me your senior, and you my junior,” the grin was wide and oddly not condescending.

Not that Mabui felt that way about it. – _WHAT?!_ \- Her blue-green eyes were narrowed on the girl at least two feet shorter than her, “how old are you?”

The girl’s dark brows seemed to twitch over the bandanna as she tilted her head back in thought, “Hmm… well,” she was doing that thing with her fingers again, although this time it seemed she was absently counting, “I came to train with Tougemichi when I was six, and both him and Kemui-sama tell me it’s been four years,” quick counting with her fingers before she grinned back at the older teen, “So I’m ten!”

Absently one of Mabui’s dark toned hands curled into a fist at her side, she was _NOT_ going to be looked down on by a ten-year-old! “I’m a Chuunin,” she stated flatly, trying to not let the frustration running along her shoulders get into her voice.

Oddly, the girl didn’t seem to mind or notice, just kept grinning, “That’s great Kouhai!!” it was weirder because she actually sounded genuinely happy for her like she’d just accomplished something amazing.

Mabui _really_ wanted to be angry at the kid…

Grey eyes silently watched the two as they interacted, inwardly happy they were getting along so well even if part of her was concerned for her former student.

“She’s a strong girl,” Tougemichi spoke lowly next to the woman as he removed his pipe and set it in his mouth, “I don’t like admitting I’m impressed,” his voice was lower and in a growl as he struck a match along his staff and lit the herbs in his pipe.

“You don’t get impressed,” Kemui spoke quietly, folding her arms into her sleeves as she continued watching her students, purposely not facing her old master.

“Then understand when I say I am,” he took a long draw in the silence, letting his elder student understand his full meaning, “I’ve spent years in those caves, learned to trick it, she,” he nudged towards the small girl excitedly talking with the perplexed teen, “grew with it, adapted in a way we never thought of because of our _pride_ … hmp,” there was a dismissive snort.

“You don’t get humbled,” was the white woman’s quiet response.

“Like I said,” he removed the pipe just long enough to breathe out a cloud of herb smoke, “That girl will fight so long as she has the means and drive…” the old man’s voice rumbled as it lowered further, only his kin able to hear him, “Don’t let her lose herself…”

“I won’t,” for an instant the woman’s grey eyes were sharp steel, keeping her gaze on her students.

Tougemichi returned both hands to his staff, absently moving the pipe to one side of his mouth with his fuzzy grayed brows furrowed as the two sat in mutual silence, understanding the full implications of their intentions towards the girl. For once he and his former student agreed on something, for once they were united… for once they were getting along.

A snort of smoke signaled the end of the silence, “four?” he repeated his question from earlier.

“My mission ended early,” Kemui spoke in a low tone, nostalgic if still pained and so as not to carry to the other two girls, “I died there…”

Tougemichi just nodded, fully understanding her meaning. He may not be able to ‘see’ it, but he could feel the moment she walked within his range she had changed, the most obvious sign being the fourth long thin braid she now sported in what he assumed was her normal style. The two sets of braids in the front that framed her face meant nothing, but he was the one that gave her that first long thin one, shortly after the foolish child had cut out her own eye… she should have died then but she didn’t, and while he didn’t care to ask about the other two before he knew there was some significant changes with this fourth one. _Knew,_ because he could feel a shift in her entire being, especially her chakra, “So you started using it?”

The white haired woman didn’t give any outward signs but he knew she was surprised he noticed, she still didn’t face him and that didn’t mean anything to him, “There are benefits to knowing the Nibi container…”

The old man absently nodded, it was certainly one way to get around the damage her overuse of their clan technique had put on her body…

“How can you tell?” the question was soft, if rough edged… it had been something she had wanted to ask him for a while.

The old man was still and silent, lightly breathing out smoke, “My brother was the only one I’d seen use it,” he snorted dismissively when the woman glanced his way, “It quickly killed him, and the burden passed to my youngest…”

Kemui looked into the middle-distance, taking apart the few words the old Assassin spoke. No one in her clan had told her a thing, she had been completely ignorant of her ‘oddity’ until the Nibi tried to break out and Reki had told her from the scraps of information the woman had found. When Reki had told her years ago she had been tempted to ask the old man when she first dropped Yorihi off… but they had never been on good terms and she had more important things to concern herself with, like leaving as much as part of her hadn’t wanted to. Now, with what he’d said… she wasn’t sure how she felt, “Is it dangerous?”

There was a disgruntled shrug from the old man, “Who knows,” his voice was dismissive and lazy which seemed strange to the white woman as he grabbed his pipe again, “As I said, I’d only ever seen my brother use it…” he breathed out smoke before adding lowly, “and even then it was only once…”

Grey eyes closed, thinking about what it could all mean…

Tougemichi removed the pipe from his mouth, facing the taller woman, “Is your child the same?” he could feel her turn to look at him, only slightly surprised as the frown spread on his face, showing he was serious, “You’re the only one I’ve heard having a child, let alone living passed thirty,” there was a flippant shrug, “call it a curiosity…”

Grey eyes stared at the old Assassin, so many things running across her mind. Tougemichi was the oldest in her clan she’d known, manly claiming he was over two hundred years though he only ever claimed to have long ago stopped counting his age or caring. It meant he knew and had experienced many things, he wasn’t always blind, his eyes removed as a punishment he’d told her once, so there were many things he would have seen as well… such as white hair and light features in such a dark clan?

But that was ancient history… and she didn’t have the time or care to bother with it, she’d learn on her own like always. There was a bare sigh as the woman decided to answer his question, “Yes…” grey eyes trailed to her two students, the older one rolling up her scroll while Yorihi seemed to be asking questions, “… he’s just like me.”

The blind man nodded, accepting that answer, “Tell her soon,” he spoke lowly, turning around preparing to leave, “I’d hate for her to get upset…” and he started walking away as Kemui watched. When he made it about ten feet from her the old Assassin paused, his shoulders giving a shake before he spoke with a distinct growl in his voice, “also… good luck… whelp.”

And he was gone.

Kemui continued staring where the old man had been, not sure what to think about his last words… yet oddly pleased by them. – _It seems, Yorihi-hime has gotten to you too…_ \- a _slight_ smirk picked at the edges of her lips as she turned heel and walked towards her students.

“I am **_not_** your Kouhai!” Mabui grumbled, stowing her scroll.

“But you’re training under Kemui-sama right now, so…” Yorihi spoke again, finding her junior quite funny if a bit dense…

Narrow blue-green eyes turned on the little girl again, “Look, kid, I said this already, I’m training to be the _Raikage’s_ assistant!” she crossed her arms grumbling, “Not necessarily being Sensei’s student…”

“But you call her ‘Sensei’?” again, Yorihi pointed out…

Mabui’s hands clinched, “As a formality! And the woman definitely deserves it, yes… but… AUGH!” exasperated the teen threw up her hands, “I’M A CHUUNIN!!”

“And that’s very accomplished of you, Kouhai,” again, Yorihi nodded, genuinely happy for her junior.

“It’s good to see you two getting along,” Kemui quipped softly stepping between the pair, she glanced between her embarrassed apprentice and her grinning student, “Though I believe it is time we depart,” she looked specifically at Yorihi, the girl seeming to vaguely stare in front of herself but turning an ear to whoever was speaking, obviously her training to be blind paying off, “I doubt your father would wish to wait any longer.”

The girl smiled under her bandanna, before giving an excited nod, “Of course, Kemui-sama!”

“Um…” both Assassin and odd little girl seemed to turn towards Mabui, “Sensei, what about that old-” when she glanced where she’d last seen the old man she found it devoid of anything. She blinked, confused, “Where did he go?”

“Probably back home,” Yorihi was the one to answer, to which her Teacher just nodded and Kouhai just looked confused.

“As we should be,” Kemui responded by taking off in a direction.

“Hai, Kemui-Sama,” Yorihi quickly followed the older woman, catching up quickly with Bachiko disappearing into the space around her.

“W-wait!” Mabui rushed after them, catching up and taking her place at her sensei’s right side, occasionally glancing at the weird little blind girl. It was quite a while before she finally got up the nerve to ask the obvious question, “Sensei,” blue-green eyes glanced at the white woman between them, “Who is this girl?”

Grey eyes seemed to open slowly as she had been walking with them closed, just enjoying the relative silence. She turned enough to glance down at Yorihi, who was holding one of her long sleeves in her hand as she had comfortably tucked her arms into them, “You didn’t tell her?” she questioned the small girl.

Yorihi was staring ahead of her, acting blind was surprisingly easy when your eyes could see everything around you at once, so long as her head didn’t move where she focused she was fine which was something the darkness had taught her rather well. So she could easily see without moving an inch the inquisitive look Kemui-sama was giving her and the extremely curious if trying hard not to be obvious one on her new Kouhai. The little girl just tilted her head, thinking, “I didn’t know if it was appropriate.” She really hadn’t, Tougemichi had taught her about how loose information, such as names or titles could spell the death of a person, typically not the one _with_ the name but the other just for knowing the association. It had been how _they_ had functioned he’d said, it was also the same reason she never got her Teacher’s or his real name out of him.

She could see her Teacher giving an approving nod, obviously understanding her reasoning, “Very well,” Kemui turned slightly, just enough to know she had Mabui’s attention, “Mabui, this is Tenkyuu Yorihi, The Raikage’s Daughter.”

The teenaged Chuunin stood stock still as the other two seemed content to keep walking on their own, giving her space to handle this new information. – _It all makes sense now!_ \- a blue-green eye twitched; the chakra powerhouse, the speed perception, the excess of blades… HAVING KEMUI THE ASSASSIN AS A TEACHER AS A CHILD! Getting apparently further special training outside the village! If Mabui didn’t need to stay conscious to keep up with the two she probably would have passed out from the information overload…

… suddenly, being the ‘Kouhai’ of the grinning little girl wasn’t such a bad thing.

\-----

Mabui – cute

Tensou no Jutsu – Heavenly Transfer Technique

Kouhai- Junior

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you all have been having fun with this, i know i've been 'quiet' as i'm usually very mouthy on FFN but i figured it'd be best to just get these up here asap~ this is my big baby work so i want you all to be able to enjoy it as well~ :3
> 
> tell me what you think!
> 
> Till next -salute-waves- Sayounara, Mina!!  
> -Ikasury


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